Human Shaped Constellation
by jngsjngs
Summary: There were those who were born great, and there were those who were born. Empirically speaking, though, weren't we all made of star stuff?
1. Start Line

No copyright infringement intended.

* * *

All men are not created equal.

Quirks, as we've come to know them, decide whether a good person can be great or the barista working at a coffee shop down the street. That's not to say baristas aren't good people or a good person can't be a great barista, but in a world where our job options include saving the world, the ability to make perfect latte art may or may not sound quite as impressive. It isn't something we're taught so much as it is something we eventually realize: there are those who are born great, and there are those who are born. Empirically speaking, though, aren't we all made of the same star stuff?

* * *

—

 **I. Start Line**

—

* * *

I felt like crawling into a hole.

Morbidly, I thought about how unfortunate it would be to accidentally or on purpose get buried alive. Then, because I was a masochist, I started thinking about all of the worst ways I could possibly die. Between spiders and the irony of choking on a lifesaver, the first day of high school should've been at the bottom of my list, but since the school in question was Yūei Academy, I didn't have the luxury to be so naïve.

Ranked first in Japan and regarded as a highly distinguished institution by the rest of the world, Yūei was home to some of the most promising young Heroes in the making. Hundreds of applicants took part in the entrance exam every year, and of those hundreds only a handful were chosen to attend. I wasn't one of them, but the school admitted a select few students through the sole basis of recommendations. The number was significantly smaller than the average acceptance rate, and yet somehow, it now included me.

Freshmen identification cards arrived a few weeks after acceptance letters came in the mail. Engraved in pristine cursive at the top right corner sat the school motto, _Plus Ultra_ , a Latin phrase translating to "further beyond." It served as a conspicuous reminder of the significance a piece of plastic could have, and truthfully, my name seemed a bit out of place in comparison.

To put things into perspective, eighty percent of the human population possessed Quirks. Japan's population totaled to a little less than two percent of that, but that two percent consisted of one hundred and twenty seven million people. Forty students enrolled into the Hero Course this year, while the recommendation process recruited five.

I was one of the five.

Most people in my position would've probably jumped at the chance to attend such a prestigious academy, though objectively speaking, high school was high school no matter where I went. Loud classrooms. Pushy kids. Teachers who cared too much or not at all. I could admit that Yūei was in the top one percent for a reason, but thinking about those subjective differences made me anxious, especially since my parents graduated from the same school.

 _So much to live up to…_

Ignoring the whisper in my ears, I squared my shoulders and traipsed through the main gates, imposing and impressive and still a little impossible to believe. The receptionist sitting in the corner of the lobby perked up and hopped to her feet as I walked inside, but not before a question interrupted the yawn slipping out of her mouth.

"New student?" she asked.

Dark hair cascaded down her back like sharp quills, mirroring the length and color of my own curls. It wasn't until I noticed the red mask atop her head did I realize she wasn't a receptionist at all. Kayama Nemuri was one of the many teachers here at Yūei, but the general public knew her by a different title: the R-Rated Pro Hero, Midnight.

Her Quirk exuded a sleep-inducing aroma through her pores, which explained the skintight bodysuit veiling an expanse of her skin. As I handed her my identification card, my eyes warily flickered to her exposed fingers, but considering I had enough of a conscience to have such concerns in the first place, I figured they didn't pose much of a threat.

"You're one of the kids who got in through recommendations," Kayama-sensei said, her cerulean eyes sparkling after skimming over my name.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Uh, I'm not some old lady, you know."

I stayed silent as Kayama-sensei typed my information into the system, thoroughly incapable of small talk without feeling an overwhelming urge to combust. As much as I practiced such conversations or conversations in general, I couldn't understand the point of talking for no discernible reason apart from the sake of talking. Luckily, though, she didn't look particularly interested in receiving a reply.

"Looks like you're in Class 1-A," Kayama-sensei said, sliding my ID across the counter. "Welcome to Yūei, Higuchi Reiko."

My mouth curled at the corners, shaping into a minuscule smile. "Thank you, Kayama-sensei."

"So you do know who I am," she mused, her own lips tilting into a satisfied smirk. "Don't go around calling me 'ma'am' anymore, got it?"

With a listless nod, I bid her a slightly more enthusiastic farewell. The halls stretched for miles on miles, empty save for a few mingling upperclassmen, but I didn't care much about being late on my first day. I had more important things to worry about, starting with the nettling whisper still lingering in my head.

 _In for a penny_ , she said. _In for a pound._

* * *

I had nothing against waking up early. I could, if needed, but between that and sleeping in a few extra minutes each morning, the prospect of leaving the warmth of my blankets never sounded like the better option. Most days, I kept my eyes closed until I absolutely had to get out of bed.

The man sprawled on the ground in front of Class 1-A seemed to share the sentiment. A yellow sleeping bag scuffed from overuse and zipped to his chin swallowed the rest of his body, revealing only a mop of black hair and hooded eyes reminiscent of a dead or dying goldfish.

On the other side of him stood three students paralyzed at the sight of his odd predicament, unwittingly blocking the single entrance and exit into the classroom. I could've taken a few extra steps to walk around them, but that required more energy than I had to spare on a Monday morning.

"Excuse me," I said.

No response, not even a glance. My other classmates peered at the commotion from their seats inside the classroom, and though I would've usually found the ogling annoying, I felt more bothered by the fact that the people I addressed directly didn't show nearly as much interest in what I had to say.

"That's my cue, I guess," the man sighed, rising from his cocoon and stretching to his full height. "I'm your homeroom teacher, Aizawa Shōta."

A euphony of gasps and whispers permeated the room, prompting our instructor to let out another breath of irritation. He didn't bother waiting for us to quiet down this time and quickly pulled out a blue and white tracksuit from the worn quilt pooling at his feet.

"You'll find one of these uniforms under every desk," Aizawa-sensei said, lifting it above his head for everyone to see. "It's last minute, I know, but change into them and then come out to the field."

Picking up the sleeping bag off the floor, Aizawa-sensei spun on his heel and started in the opposite direction from where I came. His footsteps slowed down as he passed by almost like he just noticed me standing there, but any and all emotions escaped his expression when I looked at him.

"Don't be late next time," Aizawa-sensei said.

As I took note of his hunched shoulders and fading footsteps, I couldn't help but wonder about his capabilities as a Pro Hero. Despite the image he presented, Aizawa-sensei was our teacher for a reason, and for him to meet Yūei's standards meant he could handle the job to an impressive extent. No use in speculating when I didn't have the evidence nor intent to prove otherwise.

"Hi, there!"

I took a step back when a pair of big, brown eyes popped out in front of me, cringing not so much out of surprise than at their sudden proximity. It took a couple of seconds to recognize the brunette staring at me as one of the three students obstructing the doorway just a moment ago.

"My name is Uraraka Ochako," she said, a sweet, toothy smile spreading across her cheeks. "Are you in this class?"

Just as I opened my mouth to respond, the other two from earlier approached us, contrasting amiable and anxious expressions on display. Pushing up the silver spectacles perfectly perched on his nose, the taller of the two curtly inclined his head.

"I am Iida Tenya," he said. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance."

I returned the gesture and looked at the last of the trio, shorter than the first boy and barely taller than the girl. He cleared his throat and hastily averted his green eyes upon noticing my gaze, and the pale pink blush across his cheeks almost looked like the exact complementary color to the unruly moss curls atop his head.

"Midoriya Izuku," he said, his words coming out as a scarce whisper. "It's, um, nice to meet you."

Three different people with three vastly different personalities. I could've greeted them as cheerfully as Uraraka or maybe dropped into a ninety-degree bow that Iida would've proudly reciprocated, but the way Midoriya avoided eye contact implied that such a forward introduction might only fluster him more. Keeping that in mind, I settled for a short nod.

"My name is Higuchi Reiko," I said. "It's nice to meet you, too."

I smiled, tight-lipped and a little awkward. It came a beat too late to feel entirely honest, but the smiles I received in return nearly made me exhale in relief. First impressions can feel final in a roundabout sort of way. I found some semblance of comfort in the fact that I didn't feel totally mortified after mine.

"We should find our seats," Iida said, adjusting his glasses again. "Aizawa-sensei expects us soon."

Uraraka bobbed her head and skipped to the back of the class, and Iida hurriedly slipped into the desk in front of hers. The two remaining spots sat on opposite sides of the room, and I was mildly taken aback when Midoriya darted towards a scowling blond boy near the front instead of the brunette. Briefly, I wondered if they knew each other, but the thought dissipated without much protest.

As I plodded to my seat, I counted twenty desks in the room. Aside from two or three recommended students, every single person in our class passed the infamous Yūei entrance exam, and the reality of it made me all the more curious to find out what kind of Quirks my peers possessed.

"Oh," Uraraka said, eyes turning into crescents as soon as I placed my bag on the desk next to hers. "We're seat partners, Higuchi-chan!"

Reluctantly, perhaps a bit petulantly, I returned her enthusiasm with another strained smile, but I had nothing against Uraraka personally. I was just half-awake, and it was a Monday, and the indubitable fact that I was not a morning person subtracted from my already lacking social skills.

"I'm looking forward to it, Uraraka," I said, trivial concerns swirling in my mind. Should I have used _chan_? _san_? An honorific at all? Was it alright that I didn't?

"You can call me by my first name," Uraraka said, shy and a little sheepish. "I mean, if you want! No pressure! I don't even have to call you Reiko! Or Reiko-chan? Whatever you want! Ah, I'm rambling, aren't I?"

Her words and actions implied that she wanted us to become closer than just classmates, and I didn't think it was vain on my part to assume that meant she wanted to be my friend. The thought of that and having to spend the next few months together coupled with her bubbly smile made my next decision one that not even Monday Me could refuse. I could do friends. It would be easier to be friends.

"Don't worry about it, Ochako," I said, hoping an actual, affable grin managed to replace my sad attempts at an authentic smile. "If you want, you can call me Rei."

* * *

Class 1-A gathered on the baseball field about fifteen minutes later, each of us dressed in our new gym clothes. It felt like silk against my skin, but I wouldn't be surprised if Yūei invested in materials of even higher grade, especially since these uniforms would have to adapt to our Quirks during training.

"What do you think we're doing today, Rei?" Ochako asked.

"It doesn't look like anything too exciting," I said, eyeing the clipboard in our homeroom teacher's hands. "Maybe a test of some sort to give Aizawa-sensei a closer look at our Quirks."

"Wonderful observation, Higuchi."

Ochako slapped a hand over her mouth to stifle her giggles as Aizawa-sensei raised a brow in my direction. I stilled in silent horror, internally berating myself for not lowering my voice and trying not to care about the dozens of stares stabbing into my back on top of that.

"You'll be taking eight physical apprehension tests structured similarly to those you've taken in the past," Aizawa-sensei said, his tone and posture noncommittal in every sense of the word. "The only real difference is that unlike other schools, you're allowed to use your Quirks whenever and however you want."

My embarrassment faded as quickly as it came, substituted by furrowed brows and a suspicious inkling that his words sounded too good to be true.

"Whoever ranks last will be expelled."

Because of _course_ it was.

"Expelled?" our class chorused incredulously.

"Did you think this would be all fun and games?" Aizawa-sensei asked, the frown on his face deepening in disapproval. "This is the Hero Course. If you're not going to take it seriously, then you don't belong here."

 _Do you belong here, Reiko?_

The ever-present voice inside my head always chose the worst times to appear, and now was no exception. I tried to ignore it, tried not to shut my eyes because whispers sounded louder in the dark, but as usual I still heard it, cutting and clear.

"Are you nervous, Rei?"

Grateful for the distraction, I turned to Ochako and immediately noted her poorly concealed trepidation. Her fingers covered her cheeks, but she peered at me through the slits, and the nervous energy she emitted herself felt almost palpable. _No_ and I might come off defensive or overconfident. _Yes_ and she might feel better about being anxious or freak out about me freaking out.

"No."

Not worth the risk and close to the truth. I'd be fine as long as I didn't get last place, and aside from the three I met just a few minutes ago, I didn't feel too attached to anyone enough to worry about whether or not they got expelled.

"Oh," Ochako mumbled.

My mouth twitched into a frown at her wilting expression, but I forced the corners upward. "It'll be fun to use our Quirks, don't you think?"

"Oh," she gasped, beaming again. "If you put it that way, I guess so!"

The tests kicked off with a fifty meter dash. Aizawa-sensei split us into pairs, and while waiting for my turn, I hung back at the end of the line to observe my classmates' performances. Most of them succeeded in about six seconds save for a few outliers with advantages and disadvantages. Iida and his engines, for example, cleared the track in almost three seconds flat, though I could tell he had trouble switching gears in short distances.

Ochako, on the other hand, didn't have the strength or stamina to make use of her Quirk in an exercise that relied largely on physical effort. That said, she still beat a couple of people who had apparently never run a mile in their lives, like the sparkly blond kid that sort of just tripped on his shoelaces and stayed on the ground.

"Die!"

And then there was Bakugou Katsuki, the blond Midoriya sat behind in class. His explosion Quirk was powerful as it was, but he also had sharp instincts that allowed him to maximize his use of that power a number of different ways. If not for his equally explosive temper, I would've easily believed he was one of the other students who got in through recommendations.

"4.01 seconds," Aizawa-sensei said, marking his name off the list. "Next, Yaoyorozu and—"

"Achoo!"

"Bless you," I uttered automatically, not bothering to look at the sniffling brunette next to me.

A few feet in front of us, Yaoyorozu Momo stepped forward. I only knew her by name because it seemed like everyone knew her name, and when an electric scooter materialized out of her arm within minutes after glowing violet, I told myself not to forget it.

Next to her stood a boy with two toned hair, red and white divided evenly down the center of his head. I didn't catch his name, but that didn't matter at the moment. Noting the disinterest in his expression, I decided he either didn't care about failing or—

The boy thrust his hands out behind him, and in a fraction of the time it took his partner to build the scooter, the dirt beneath his feet froze and the frost expelling from his fingertips propelled him to the finish line.

"3.71 seconds!"

—well, that.

Aside from Iida, no one else came close to the three second mark. It reminded me that two other students in my class enrolled through recommendations, and when Yaoyorozu ended up with a near identical time, falling behind by just a few centimeters, I couldn't help but think that the pieces aligned a little too perfectly.

"As expected," Aizawa-sensei said, further validating my suspicions.

Yaoyorozu smiled brightly, bowing at her waist. The boy inclined his head before turning to the damage he dealt on the track, his left foot stepping on the ice. As steam began rising from the ground, my curiosity spiked.

"Wait," I called out.

The boy paused and looked over at me, and his eyes, like his hair, came in two different colors: a silver and turquoise, the latter peeking out from the carmine fringe that swept over the left side of his face.

 _His eyes…_

I buried the bashful discomfort that followed the rest of that thought and shifted my attention elsewhere. Now that I had an unobstructed view of him, I noticed the scar marking his otherwise glassy ivory skin, but I willed my own eyes not to linger, merely watching as he raised a brow and almost mirroring the action before I finally registered that I spent all that time gawking at him.

"Leave it," I said, finally.

The boy glanced our teacher and lifted his foot upon receiving a nod of approval. I watched the wisps of steam fade into nothingness while the rest of the ice remained untouched and unbothered. Most people considered elemental Quirks top tier for a reason, and this was a prime example of why.

"Hagakure Tōru and Higuchi Reiko," Aizawa-sensei announced, beckoning me and a girl with an invisibility Quirk to the start of the line. "Last ones for this test."

Before heading off, I turned to the boy with mismatched eyes. He stared at me sort of expectantly this time, and to my dismay, I felt my palms sweat under the weight of his gaze.

"Thank you," I said.

Mutely, he nodded and stepped aside, leaving a space open for me where he previously stood. As I knelt down on the cold surface, the tension in my muscles immediately disappeared. Fortunately or not, Aizawa-sensei cut off my brewing inner monologue before I could give it too much thought.

"Go."

My hands slammed down onto the ground, and with a flick of my wrist, I stood atop a small slab of ice. Leftover frost reverted to its liquid state and then erupted below me like an angry geyser, its sheer pressure hurling me across the air.

I wrinkled my nose as the wind tickled the lines on my face, but the gesture felt comforting and familiar. As I landed on the other side of the finish line, the crystallized rock beneath my feet shattered into pieces, and all I could think about was how much I wanted to do it again.

"3.68 seconds!"

 _Not bad._

"That was awesome, Rei!" Ochako cheered, pumping a fist in the air. "You looked like you were surfing! Or flying! Like _wham_! So cool!"

I accepted the fact that I couldn't beat Iida, but I still felt a bit sour about barely ranking second, especially considering the only reason I had that much water to use in the first place was because of the boy with the ice Quirk.

Despite the approval from Aizawa-sensei, I also respected the fact that the favor from earlier was a one time deal. Relying on someone else for every test wouldn't look very impressive, and so I made a mental note to keep my distance from him until the exam ended. I needed to set an example, too, and besides, it wasn't like I wanted to _stay_ second best.

 _Not bad,_ the whispers crooned. _But not good enough._

* * *

Thirty-five minutes and four tests later, I was sure of two things. First, Midoriya was hiding something, something being his Quirk, and to my rising irritation I couldn't think of a practical reason why. His scores remained short of average, but even with the threat of expulsion looming over his head, he avoided using his Quirk entirely, which brought us to my second observation.

He wouldn't be expelled.

Aizawa-sensei didn't seem like the type to joke about something so crucial, but it wasn't unlikely that he changed his mind after deducing Midoriya withheld something of importance from him. Truth be told, if the way he kept glaring daggers at the poor kid indicated his resolve to find out what that something was, the opposite could be true and Midoriya just might not graduate until he exposed those secrets.

Everyone did extremely well on the ball throw. Bakugou ranged a whopping 750 meters, and after a bit of controversy, Aizawa-sensei allowed Yaoyorozu to create a cannon that blasted her softball nearly triple the distance, but Ochako received the highest score with an infinite number. Suffice it to say I scraped by in comparison.

Midoriya went last, hunched and trembling, but his eyes narrowed in determination. He swung his fist, and then, in perhaps the most anticlimactic event I witnessed that day, the ball flopped limply to the ground.

… _what?_

It was unnerving and unusual how Midoriya looked as appalled as I felt. His mouth hung open and his eyes, wider than normal from shock, remained glued to the softball less than a foot away from him. I expected the whispers to start instantaneously, but the rest of our classmates stayed quiet, and considering the static in the air, I suppose I couldn't blame them.

"I erased your Quirk."

I looked up and found myself gaping at our homeroom teacher. The fabric around his neck hovered above his head as if Ochako had used her zero gravity on him, but she stood beside me equally shocked. It seemed the one other person whose Quirk we had yet to see today decided to put it to use.

"The entrance exam this year must've been pathetic if a kid like you made it through," Aizawa-sensei said, his eyes glowing red. I thought they looked dead when I first met him, but now they looked ready to kill. "You've been observing your classmates since we started the assessment, Higuchi. What can you tell me about Midoriya?"

I bit my tongue in surprise and winced from both the physical pain and the discomfort that began creeping under my skin. Aizawa-sensei seemed to know as much as I did about the situation, which meant that his inquiry served to accomplish something apart from gathering whatever intel I had. It occurred to me then, quick and hissing as if I ripped off a bandaid, that he didn't try to single me out so much as he wanted to alienate the boy in question.

My options dwindled by the second and I didn't have enough time to come up with new ones. Aizawa-sensei wouldn't hesitate to turn on me if I denied his request, and I couldn't risk that kind of damage to my reputation or credibility so early in the semester. Midoriya already quivered like a leaf and any trace of zealousness on his features disappeared along with his Quirk. If I answered truthfully, he might lose the motivation to try for the rest of the exam altogether.

"Midoriya hasn't made any attempts to use his Quirk," I said, slowly, carefully. Unlikely as it seemed at this point, I also had to consider that Aizawa-sensei's bluff about the expulsion still applied. "Considering the severity of the consequences for failing today, I don't think it's because he doesn't want to use it, but because—"

He didn't know how? No, that made him sound incompetent, and for him to make it into the Hero Course at all meant he had more to offer than that—

"Midoriya-san is inexperienced," Yaoyorozu said, abruptly concluding on my behalf. "His Quirk must have great repercussions if it's not something he can practice through trial and error alone."

I bristled at the interruption, but I predicted the next question, and if someone like Yaoyorozu answered it, someone who didn't know a thing about failure and what it could do to a person, Midoriya would end up a martyr. I felt an odd sense of responsibility to make sure that didn't happen. He deserved a fair shot at proving everyone wrong the same as anyone.

"Of the tests remaining, the sit ups and seated toe touch don't require heavy use of our Quirks. Midoriya might be able to get away with showing off during the long distance run, but if I'm," I paused, taking a breath that sounded too much like a sigh in my ears. "If Yaoyorozu-san is right and he's not accustomed to using his Quirk, he might overexert himself before even completing a lap. Now is the best time for him to try, and if I were you, I would give him the chance to do that."

Midoriya let out a strangled breath. I brushed it off as an appalled albeit appropriate response to my spiel, but then I looked at him, his limbs swathed by strips of cloth and body suspended three feet above the ground. Beside me, Ochako shivered, and based on the silence surrounding us, it seemed like the rest of our classmates had a similar reaction. I didn't blame them for that either.

"You can't be a Hero and deadweight," Aizawa-sensei said, deactivating his Quirk and unblinking when Midoriya crashed into the dirt. "Incapacitated to the point where you end up turning into another victim to save? Do you expect your comrades to carry you just so you can live out a silly fantasy?"

Midoriya shook his head, furiously, frantically. "No, that's—"

"Two more tries," Aizawa-sensei interrupted, and the finality in his tone left the rest of us staring and silent. "Make them count for something."

* * *

Despite ending up with a self-inflicted broken finger, Midoriya passed with flying colors. His rank didn't budge from twentieth out of twenty students, but he proved himself more capable than any of us anticipated, and Aizawa-sensei apparently appreciated that enough to keep him around.

That, of course, didn't mean I was any less suspicious. How could Midoriya live with a Quirk like that for more than a decade and not have any control over it? I might've understood if he wanted to maintain a civilian life, but people applied to the Hero Course for one reason, and that led to a third fact I could be even more certain of than the first two.

Midoriya wanted to be a Hero.

I should've been less concerned about him and more concerned about the fact that I ended up in fourth place. It was my own fault for assuming we stood on equal ground just because we happened to be in the same class, but ranking below Bakugou landed an unexpected blow to my ego, and Yaoyorozu dominating in first place rubbed salt on my already wounded self-esteem.

"See you tomorrow, Rei!"

Nevertheless, I buried those thoughts to the back of my mind and waved at the grinning brunette, grateful for a distraction not for the first time since we met. Maintaining a smile required less effort than it did this morning, but it would take a lot more than a crack in the mask to break such a practiced routine. I can count on both hands and then some all the things that could happen in the three months until summer break, and though change was inevitable, I was more stubborn than I cared to admit sometimes.

As I made my way out of the classroom, I took a peek at the desk on the other side of mine. I was mildly disappointed to find it as empty as it had been all day, but I knew it was more out of curiosity than concern. I would meet them tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that. More routines, but I couldn't complain, especially when surviving the first day of high school felt like victory enough.

* * *

 **postscript**

full transparency, my schedule will be extremely sporadic, but here's hoping i see this through to the end no matter how long it might take! feel free to follow me at **jngsjngs** dot **tumblr** dot **com** for updates in real time and **archive of our own** under the same pen name if you'd like to follow the story there as well. thank you so much for reading, please let me know what you think so far ଘ(੭ˊˋ)੭


	2. Bad Decisions

No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

—

 **II. Bad Decisions**

—

* * *

Before I turned four, I devoted my whole life to becoming a princess. Unlike kids my age with similar aspirations, it didn't start out as a dream, nor did I make the decision on a childish whim. As did most things, it began with my birth. I was born to ordinary parents in an ordinary town, but unbeknownst to me, what I considered ordinary in a city full of Heroes was anything but that.

Quirk marriages weren't unheard of, but they occurred more commonly amongst the second and third generation of Quirk users. My mother was living proof that those born from such nuptials existed. Kobayashi Mikoto was strong because of her parents, and when she met my father, a reliable man who was formidable in his own right, the two of them became stronger together.

That was how my story changed, whether I liked it or not. I was born to extraordinary parents in an extraordinary town, and from the moment I took my first breath, I strived to be as remarkable as them. My dad, as most great fathers did, believed in me more than I believed in myself.

"You're already there, Princess," he would say, and I believed him all the same.

In memories even earlier than that, I remember people gushing about how I was the spitting image of my mother with our dark hair and peculiarly crimson eyes, indisputable evidence that I was, in fact, her daughter. It didn't matter if I agreed or simply didn't know how to disagree. Like many commodities in this world, it was a truth that was only cemented as such because enough people believed it, therefore, it wasn't the truth so much as it was a twisted variation of it. I found out the hard way that this meant sometimes words weren't enough.

 _Did that mean_ I _wasn't enough?_

It was impossible to forget the night everything stopped making sense. Thunder roared belligerently, haunting the skies and the earth beneath them. I could've sworn the lightning rippled through the cracks in my bones, and in the darkness, I thought about those words and my parents and the sad truth that the very things meant to define me didn't reflect the person I wanted to be. I was only three at the time, but at that exact minute I felt decades older, and when the clock struck midnight, the rain finally fell.

" _Breaking: the Temporal Hero, Rishi, has been reported_ _ **missing**_ _."_

I cried.

* * *

My first day at Yūei came and went like a blur.

It felt more like regular school than I anticipated, but I suppose that only justified my theory of _high school is high school no matter where I am_. Mandatory classes like English and Math took place in the morning, and aside from the pain of forcing myself awake through Ectoplasm's lectures on geometric functions, I didn't have much to complain about.

Yūei had Hero Course training scheduled later in the afternoon, giving most of us something to look forward to after an hour with Present Mic. Based on what I heard from some upperclassmen and a few overly enthusiastic first years, Hero activities seemed to require a bit more of a learning curve, and the baseball incident from yesterday definitely proved that.

The first lesson I thought to practice was getting to class early, as per Aizawa-sensei's advice. Aside from a handful of students from the Department of Management roaming around, the campus appeared relatively empty when I arrived the next morning, a feat I didn't think possible despite the abysmal acceptance rate keeping the school's population down to less than two thousand.

Expecting to walk into an equally vacant classroom, I was surprised to find two people already sitting inside. Yaoyorozu looked up from a massive encyclopedia to give me a cordial smile. I returned the gesture, and as soon as I turned to the head of red and white beside her, a pair of heterochromatic irises suddenly met my crimson ones.

I caught myself staring and averted my gaze before it could be considered rude, but I felt his own stare as I made my way to my seat, which was, ironically, right next to him. His presence was significantly less intimidating today compared to our initial interaction, and yet somehow I still felt like dissolving into my shoes.

"Good morning, Higuchi-san," Yaoyorozu said, pausing halfway through the page she was on to alternate her gaze between me and the boy. "Have you two met?"

"Yes."

"No."

The boy and I looked at each other, more so out of confusion about each other's answers than surprise at the fact that we said them at the same time.

"I don't know your name," I pointed out.

He blinked and replied, "I didn't give it to you."

"And I didn't ask for it," I said, hanging my bag on the back of my chair. "Because, you know, we haven't actually met."

A mellifluous giggle interrupted our rapid fire exchange, prompting us to give its source identical looks demanding _what are you laughing at?_ Yaoyorozu placed a marker where she left off in her book, shaking her head in unconcealed bemusement.

"I don't suppose exchanging a few words counts as a proper introduction," she said, hiding a grin behind the back of her hand. "But it's certainly not too late to introduce yourselves now."

The boy and I didn't say anything for a moment, glancing at her and then back at each other. I thought back to when I met the trio in front of our classroom; Iida spoke curtly because he wanted to come across as a responsible classmate, Ochako acted cheerful because she wanted to prove herself a good friend, and Midoriya felt a little awkward because he just wanted to make a nice impression.

All of them expected the same from me in return, and I tried to provide that. In contrast, the boy in front of me didn't look particularly thrilled, and he didn't attempt to escape or pretend to care. I told him my name and he told me his, muttering, "Todoroki Shouto," as if it wasn't important. That was when I understood.

With a bit of scrutiny on my part, I came to the foreign realization that, for once, I had no reason to overthink the situation, because he didn't have any expectations of me. I was almost relieved until I thought, a bit sardonically, that someone named _Todoroki_ didn't need anything from anyone.

"Nice to meet you," I said.

And that was that.

I peeked at the clock hanging at the front of the room as discreetly as I could and nearly cringed at the twenty something minutes we had before class started. Like me, Todoroki didn't seem too into small talk, and Yaoyorozu hardly looked like the type to enjoy vapid conversations. I didn't mind sitting in silence until the first bell, but ghosting them after introducing myself felt a little too much like a hit and run even for me.

"You're both recommended students, aren't you?" I asked, shifting in my seat to face them before I could regret opening my mouth. "I've met few people our age with as much control over their Quirks and even fewer with ones as powerful as yours."

"I could say the same about you," Yaoyorozu said, setting her book aside. "I've heard that elemental Quirks are difficult to master, but you're incredibly graceful when using yours. Come to think of it," she nodded at Todoroki, then at me. "Your Quirks are quite similar, aren't they?"

"Not really."

I looked at Todoroki when I heard his voice echo mine. He tilted his head, once again seemingly more curious than surprised at the fact that we spoke at the same time, and I took his arched brow as a gesture to continue.

"Todoroki creates ice at will, but I can only manipulate whatever liquid is around me," I said, collecting droplets from the humidity in the air.

Todoroki eyed the moisture at the tip of my index finger as it took shape, swirling in even motions. "That's why you told me not to melt the ice."

"I probably wouldn't have done as well if you did," I admitted, letting the vortex dissipate. Replaying his choice of words in my head, I wondered if _melt_ was related to what I had in mind, but it didn't look like now wasn't the time nor place to ask. "Moisture is pretty much everywhere, but it's a lot harder to control when I can't see what I'm trying to manipulate.

"You did brilliantly," Yaoyorozu said, shaking her head. "I'm sure with your skills you would've ranked high regardless."

"I'm still a little sore from ranking below Bakagou—" The words tumbled out before I realized what I said, but I slapped a hand over my mouth once I did. "Sorry, that slipped."

"I don't think you're supposed to apologize to us," Todoroki said, maintaining a flawless poker face with impressive ease.

"You have an unexpectedly dry sense of humor."

"I wasn't trying to be funny."

"Must be a talent then," I said, thinking to myself for a minute. "I'd like to think I was picked for more than just my wit and charm, too."

Yaoyorozu smiled, leaning forward in subtle excitement. "You're a recommended student as well?"

"I don't recall seeing you at the marathon," Todoroki said, brows furrowed.

Because people deemed the regular entrance exam too easy for those worthy of scholarships, Yūei held another specifically for recommended students. I always found it unnecessary since the normal acceptance rate was already at an abysmal three percent, but in hindsight, it was more or less their extreme version of a curve to further narrow down the selection.

"Long story," I said, absentmindedly pulling at the threads on my skirt. "Have you heard of the Blood King?"

Yaoyorozu replied as if reciting text off a page. "Pro Hero, real name Kan Sekijirō. Blood manipulation Quirk. Kan-sensei is also an instructor here at Yūei."

"He knew my parents—"

"Knew?"

" _Knows_ ," I corrected, avoiding the inquisitive stare of the boy next to me. "My mom must've asked him to put in a good word for me after I missed the marathon."

"You performed tremendously in all of the tests yesterday," Yaoyorozu said, waving a dismissive hand. "I doubt you were accepted simply because he 'put in a good word.'"

The words sounded genuine, and though I couldn't bring myself to believe them, it was hard not to smile at her attempt. "Thanks, Yaoyorozu, I appreciate it."

"I suppose you would have preferred to be in his class, though," she said, her mouth shifting into a sympathetic smile.

"I don't mind it here," I shrugged, looking around the classroom. "It's been pretty interesting, to say the least. Aizawa-sensei definitely keeps us on our toes."

"That's why I get paid."

I looked up to see Aizawa-sensei take out a juice pouch from the depths of his sleeping bag, promptly downing its contents. The fabric covered the bottom half of his face, once again revealing only tuffs of unruly hair and beady eyes that loomed and leered pointedly at me. Maybe I should've been more surprised by his sudden appearance, but I had a hunch that his stunt from yesterday wasn't a one time thing.

"Higuchi," Aizawa-sensei said, reluctantly stepping out of his cocoon. "You didn't submit a form for your Hero costume."

Hero costumes were just as the name implied. Pro Heroes wore custom made outfits on the job for a number of reasons, primarily to work more efficiently and perhaps shield their identities from the public. Before the start of the semester, Yūei required students to design their own and submit it for processing at an affiliate company.

"I already have one," I said, trying not to sound as uncomfortable as I felt. Aizawa-sensei still had his stare on me, and if I didn't know any better, I would've thought he already anticipated my response. "My mother had it made for me."

"Is she a Pro Hero?" Todoroki asked, abruptly.

I muttered a quick _yes_ and turned away from him in a very obvious gesture of _do not ask_. He didn't press any further despite the unspoken _who_ attached to his question, but his stare might've been even more unnerving than his extremely unnerving inquiry, and I had a feeling Todoroki wasn't the type to let things go so easily. Knowing what I did about him, I resisted the urge to call him a hypocrite even in the safety of my own head.

"Just show me your costume by lunch," Aizawa-sensei said, throwing his now empty juice pouch into the trash bin behind him. "It has to be approved before you can use it and you're going to need it as soon as this afternoon."

"What are we doing, Aizawa-sensei?" Yaoyorozu asked.

Aizawa-sensei let out a humorless snort, and the feeling that he knew more than he let on returned tenfold.

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

* * *

I was curious by nature, and that meant I often had more questions than answers. At this point, though, I was certain of a few things. The first remained that Midoriya withheld information pertaining to his Quirk, but recent developments planted the idea that whatever it was had something to do with the number one Hero of our generation, All Might. I just didn't think about the possible connection until the Pro Hero himself pranced into the classroom later that day with an announcement.

"It's time for combat training!"

Bakugou was probably the happiest I've seen him in the two days since the semester started, all but cackling at the prospect of beating everyone else into a pulp. I heard from Ochako that he placed first in the Yūei entrance exam, unfortunately adding to his already admirable stats, but I had to assume every single person in the room was capable of holding their own if only for the fact that they passed the same test.

Like Aizawa-sensei said back in the classroom, All Might instructed us to change into our Hero costumes and meet at one of the many training facilities provided for the school. Ground Beta, in particular, was a half-scale copy of Tokyo, right down to the sidewalk cracks and the display of muffins at the bakery across the street.

"You'll be split into two categories: Heroes and Villains," All Might explained, pumping an enthusiastic fist into the air. "Teams of two will then be paired up against each other. Heroes must capture the weapon and defeat the Villains, while the Villains must protect the weapon and take down the Heroes within the fifteen minute time limit!"

It should've been considered another Quirk altogether, how every sentence out of his mouth ended with an exclamation point. As if to prove a point, All Might held up a metal bin, adding, "Each of you will pick a card from here and whoever shares the letter you've chosen will be your partner for this exercise!"

"I should've been more specific about the material," Ochako groaned, tugging at the pink and black spandex clinging to her body.

"It's not bad," I said, squinting at the details of her costume. It looked exceptionally well-made, though I wouldn't be surprised if it needed a few additional adjustments as our training progressed. My own parents probably had close to a dozen suits over the course of their Hero careers. "If you didn't specify the material, then they probably used whatever was best suited for your Quirk."

"Easy for you to say," Ochako pouted, limply gesturing at my outfit. "Yours looks super cool!"

My lips involuntarily curved upward at the compliment. I wore a short sleeved bodysuit tinted shades of blue and thigh high boots covered in silver plated armor made to resemble a mermaid's scales. Fingerless gloves stretched from my hands to my forearm and a flask acting as a repository for stored liquid sat at my hip. According to my mother, it was simple, sophisticated, and of course, completely waterproof.

"Your mother did a wonderful job," Yaoyorozu gushed from my other side. Her uniform was more than a little revealing, but I knew she needed the areas of exposed skin to optimize her Quirk. "The design looks as lovely as it is practical!"

"I'll be sure to tell her that," I said, hoping my voice didn't sound as dull as it did in my ears. "And thanks, Ochako, but seriously, don't worry about it too much."

All of a sudden, I felt a warmth seep under the surface of my skin and looked up to find my field of vision dominated by a slate of white. As my gaze drifted further north, I caught a vaguely familiar glimpse of carmine and took a step back, purposely or not ogling the ice crystallizing the entire left half of the body in front of me.

"That's subtle," I said, brows raised.

Todoroki matched my expression. "It's not supposed to be."

"Wow, Rei," Ochako grinned, craning her neck to look at us both. "I didn't know you were friends with Todoroki-kun!"

Turquoise and silver eyes wavered at my nickname, a nanoscale reaction that I would've never noticed had I not already been intently staring at him. Despite his assertion that we met before this morning, Todoroki hadn't actually spoken to me until earlier today, and though it was a nice conversation, nothing about it indicated that he thought of us as anything more than seatmates, much less friends—

"Don't hurt yourself."

I came out of my stupor to find Todoroki regarding me with an even deeper frown and a double dose of confusion and curiosity. Ochako and Yaoyorozu chuckled at his reaction, and despite the attention on me, their oddly contagious mirth made it hard to smother a smile.

"You're pretty funny, Todoroki-kun!" Ochako beamed.

Grateful for the interruption, I turned my head and noticed Midoriya peering at us from a few feet away. He nearly hopped a foot into the air after accidentally meeting my gaze, stuttering frantic excuses and averting his eyes to whatever else was outside of our vicinity. His horror came across in waves, and I sifted through my brain for ways to ease some of his discomfort. I wasn't sure what implored me to think a thumbs up would've sufficed, but I had no time to feel embarrassed about it.

"You look awesome, Midoriya," I said.

"Thank you, Higuchi-san."

"Rei is fine."

"Oh, um, I'm not," Midoriya stammered, a gloved hand ran through his wild curls, cheeks tinged a shy pink. "I mean, if you don't mind," he paused, hesitating a bit. "You can call me Deku."

I recalled a boy with blond hair and red eyes too similar to my own spitting out his nickname so angrily that Aizawa-sensei had to physically restrain him with his Quirk. It didn't take a genius to work out that it wasn't meant as a term of endearment, but looking at him now, it didn't look like Midoriya had any qualms about other people using it.

"Isn't that what Bakugou calls you?" I asked.

"Yeah!" Ochako said. "I told Deku-kun it was kinda cute, don't you think, Rei?"

Midoriya slapped a hand over his face, turning redder by the second. The implication behind the flush spreading across his cheeks as a result of Ochako's words didn't escape me. It served the perfect opportunity for a cheeky comment that Yaoyorozu and maybe even Todoroki would've appreciated, but considering the poor boy looked like he was about to burst an artery, I let it slide.

"In that case, I agree," I said, feeling inclined to give him a smile. "You wear the name well, Deku."

Ochako and Midoriya gasped in unison and turned to me with gaping eyes. I was about to ask why they were staring at me like that, but the brunette precipitously lunged at me, arms tightly clutching mine.

"That was so cool, Rei!"

"Thanks," I grunted, struggling with the extra weight as I turned back to Midoriya. I figured if Ochako gave him the chance to reclaim his name, she deserved exclusive rights to use it for a while. "Would you mind if I held off on calling you that? I feel like I haven't had time to break in 'Midoriya' just yet."

"No worries, Higuchi-chan!" Midoriya bobbed his head, his hair bouncing around his face. "Uh, I mean Rei!"

At that moment, All Might beckoned me to come over with an enthusiastic wave of his hand. I wasn't ready when Ochako jumped me, but I was even less prepared when she abruptly let go. I stumbled back a few spaces, and when Todoroki placed his left hand on my shoulder to steady my balance, I felt the heat from not too long ago resurface on the stretch of skin where his touched mine.

 _Why is he so warm?_

"Didn't think you were the clumsy type."

"Now you've got jokes," I said drily, rolling my eyes more so at my spectacular display of grace than at his remark. "Thanks for the catch."

I made my way towards All Might, who grinned and threw me a thumbs up not unlike the one I had given Midoriya earlier. Supposedly. I erased the event from my memory as soon as I was reminded of it, but I digress. The aura he exuded burned bright, and for a moment, I wondered if looking at him was how it felt to stare at the sun.

It all started to click at that moment, too suddenly for any red flags to rise ahead of time. The reason why I was so caught up in the mystery around Midoriya was simple: survival. Heroics had certain aspects to it that felt less life or death than others, the celebrity surrounding top Heroes evidence of that, but I didn't see the fun in grappling with pugnacious Villains making a hobby out of putting innocent lives at risk.

Yūei existed to teach new generations of Heroes how to thrive in this sort of world. To do that, I had to be exposed to a wide variety of people and environments. I didn't have much of an opinion about the majority of my classmates, but I was confident enough in my observation skills to provide surface level details that might help me in the future.

Ashido Mina, for example, had a Quirk that allowed her to secrete a corrosive acid from her body. Her ability to control its solubility and viscosity was strikingly similar to my own manipulation of fluids, but I had the advantage because I was able to command liquid regardless of the substance so long as it remained a variation of that form.

I might've said the same thing about Todoroki, but in terms of Quirks alone, the two of us were pretty evenly matched. Sure, I was tactical and quick on my feet, but turning into a powerhouse was never one of my specialties. I could use his ice as my own and he just as easily could freeze my attacks or return them with double the force.

Midoriya was on the opposite side of the spectrum. He possessed one of the most powerful Quirks I had ever seen, but didn't know how to use it without injuring himself to the point of incapacitation, and thinking about it made my brain hurt because I didn't know _what_ to think of it. Implementing a specific strategy against him seemed impossible because no one, apparently not even himself, knew the parameters of his powers.

As I looked up at All Might, a veteran Hero who had been around for decades, I couldn't help but question why I didn't know any details about his Quirk either. He never commented on it, and whenever someone from the media tried to ask, there appeared to be another person always in need of saving. In the event that Midoriya took after him, I didn't know if I could set parameters on his power at all, and that wasn't even the part that unnerved me the most.

All Might's skills bordered inhuman in a superhuman society. If, in fact, his Quirk wasn't strictly limited to one person, no matter if it was a variation or mere subset of the whole, then who was to say a Villain wouldn't be able to share it, or worse yet, take it by force?

* * *

My mother instilled in me from a very young age to have at least one practical solution for any given situation. As a result, I've come to terms with the idea that each cause and subsequent effect has a purpose, or in simpler terms: everything happens for a reason. Aizawa-sensei made my team villains and decided Midoriya and Iida would be our opponents. I could accept that.

What I couldn't believe was that of the three hundred or so possibilities for pairings among the twenty students in our class, I ended up with the one person who quite frankly doesn't give a damn about reason at all.

"Don't get in my way, guppy."

I didn't have time to get offended that Bakugou either didn't know my name or chose not to use it. All Might gave each team a mere fifteen minutes to come up with a strategy, but I had to figure out how to include my partner in said strategy without getting blown to bits by said partner.

Bakugou came across more than a little arrogant, but from what I've seen in the past two days alone, he had more than enough bite to back up his bark. He also seemed to have some kind of vendetta against Midoriya, which could only work out so well in the long game. I would've left them to resolve their problems on their own, but the blond didn't strike me as much of a conversationalist, and I needed to keep the situation contained.

"No," I said.

Bakugou bristled. "What?"

Whatever happened between those two must've involved his glaringly obvious superiority and inferiority complexes. His pride was even more inflated than his ego, and if he considered people weaker than him dirt beneath his feet, then anyone potentially stronger was absolute scum. My only option was to convince him I was his equal in every sense of the word.

"No, I will not get in your way, because we're doing this together."

His head whipped around so fast I fell back a step and the mask around his eyes made him look more threatening than he already did. I refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing me cower and tried to square my shoulders, not exactly failing but definitely not succeeding in intimidating him in return.

"You're pretty fucking brave for a nobody," Bakugou sneered. "Who exactly do you think you are to tell me what to do?"

"My name is Higuchi Reiko," I said, thanking whatever higher powers for at least ensuring my own voice didn't waver. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised that all of those explosions messed up your hearing."

The blond opened his mouth to undoubtedly curse me into the deepest pits of hell, but he faltered when I took a step forward and left just a few inches between us, and it wasn't until crimson met crimson did I realize we were the exact same height.

"Sorry," I added.

"Wha—"

Not a second later, Bakugou was up against the wall, hands and ankles completely strapped down by ice. Just before it spread to seal his lips entirely, he spit out a handful of cutting words, ire magnified tenfold.

"I will fucking murder you."

"And I might deserve it," I said, dutifully ignoring the glare piercing straight through me. "Hear me out first, alright? You're strong, Bakugou, but I'm strong, too. I can slow Iida down with my Quirk long enough for you to blast him into the next building."

Two muted blasts coincidentally erupted from beneath my ice, and I tried not to flinch at the impact. My nails dug into the skin of my palms, and it took everything in me to make sure I exerted enough pressure to keep Bakugou contained, but not so much that I accidentally crushed him.

"Deku doesn't know how to use his Quirk without injuring himself in the process, which means the number of times he can use it against us is a handful at best."

Another explosion.

"I get that you think you're better than them and everyone else, but you can't expect to stay number one if you never lose, and sometimes that means losing to yourself."

Ice cracked.

"The point of us being here in the first place is to learn and be better than we were yesterday, and to achieve that you have to acknowledge the parts of you that need improvement."

Liquid dripped.

"Truth is, I can't win without you, Bakugou. Not the you from yesterday or even the you from ten minutes ago. I need to trust that the person standing in front of me is better than them, too."

And then I ducked.

The blond stood in front of me, a fist trembling violently where my head was only seconds before. I couldn't tell if his shivers resulted from the prison of ice or if he just hated me that much, but wisps of smoke clouding the immediate area indicated that the punch aimed at my face was enhanced by his Quirk, and I was absolutely certain that he did not intend to miss.

"Time's up, Guppy," Bakugou snarled, hands clenched at his side. "I'll rip Deku and that two-bit extra into shreds, and when I come after you, I won't fucking miss."

Crimson met crimson for the umpteenth time, and it burned to be on the receiving end of those eyes, but I refused to give him the satisfaction of looking away.

"Deal."

* * *

 **postscript**

this battle was such a significant turning point in bakugou's character arc that i knew i had to include it in the story. figuring out how rei's involvement would change things was a little tricky, but i think it turned out to be a pretty solid foundation for their dynamic in the future. in any case, please let me know what you think! comments and suggestions are always greatly appreciated (*´꒳`*) thank you for reading!


	3. Warfare

No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

—

 **III. Warfare**

—

* * *

Bakugou Katsuki had a temper.

It didn't take long for me to come to this conclusion, and truth be told, I didn't think much of it when I did. Borrowing his own words, I considered him a two-bit extra in a story starring the underdog protagonist. Even my first impression of him had more to do with his relation to Midoriya than the blond himself. Despite that, and despite the fact that I had known him for all of two days, I felt like I had him pegged.

Maybe if I'd been less rational I'd have seen an aspiring Hero who had the disquieting makings of a Villain. I wasn't, so I didn't. He had a superiority and inferiority complex that clashed like morals and ethics, but Bakugou was a lot of things, in fact. Tenacious. Impulsive. A juxtaposition of sorts. The more I watched him, the more certain I felt his personal grudge against Midoriya evolve as a catalyst inevitably capable of shattering his sanity into splinters.

I might've agreed to something like antagonistic if I'd been asked the first few seconds after meeting him, but judging him for not knowing how to deal with his problems would only make me a hypocrite with no sense of self-respect or awareness. Internal conflicts and emotional turmoil just happened to be basic human experiences, and Bakugou just happened to be among those who didn't know how to process them.

Still, he persisted, and that was more than what most people could say about themselves.

Bakugou and I stood at the top floor of a four-story edifice in a capacious space roughly thrice the size of our classroom. All Might gave the Villain team a five minute head start, and on the way to our positions, I collected as much liquid as I could from the water coolers scattered throughout the other rooms in preparation for the first phase of our strategy.

Iida's Quirk allowed him to switch between gears depending on the required tempo, but the exhausts protruding from his calves needed a certain level of maintenance in order to function correctly. I figured turning the place into a giant ice rink could at least slow down his super speed long enough for Bakugou to knock him off his feet.

Midoriya was in some ways easier to analyze, but his case was a typical _easier said than done_ scenario. The limbs he used for his Quirk ended up broken whether or not he landed a hit, which gave him about four chances to come at us, twice that if he distributed his attacks with his fingers. As long as we dodged them and kept Iida from backing him up, Bakugou should have him incapacitated in seconds.

Despite our favorable strength and resources, we had to keep in mind some of the more obvious drawbacks. Divide and conquer strategies don't always work in situations that require any sort of reconnaissance because it leaves individuals vulnerable to an ambush. Iida and Midoriya must have come to the same conclusion at one point or another and that meant catching them off guard depended a little too much on luck for me to feel entirely comfortable.

I placed all my bets on them underestimating our teamwork enough that they fail to even consider Bakugou and I willingly working together, which in hindsight, didn't feel that absurd of a thought. Bakugou hadn't spoken to me at all since we entered the building. I just had to hope I didn't make a mistake in fooling myself that we could prove them wrong.

With about a minute to spare before the Hero team arrived, I used the remaining water to encase the nuclear weapon we needed to protect inside an elephantine glacier. Bakugou and I wouldn't let our opponents anywhere near enough to have to worry about that, but the exercise mirrored a real world simulation, and leaving a real bomb out in the open would've been especially dangerous with someone like Bakugou in such close proximity.

"Have you ever gotten into a physical fight with Deku?" I asked, filling up my flask for added measure.

His eyes narrowed at the diminutive nickname, but to my relief, Bakugou didn't lash out. "None of your fucking business."

"So, yes," I said dryly, earning myself a withering glare. "People rely on instincts when it comes to stuff like this, you know. If you've tried to hit him before, especially more than once, then it was probably with the same fist each time, and Deku doesn't seem like the type to miss details like that."

"Like fucking Deku—"

"All I'm saying is punch with your left."

The blond scoffed at my interruption, but his shoulders didn't look quite as stiff. A miniscule gesture, yet noticeable enough to prove one of my suspicions correct: Deku didn't piss him off as much as Midoriya. I didn't have much time to think about why as the sound of a screeching microphone sliced through the walls. Bakugou's arms immediately dropped to his sides and my hands went straight to the canister at my waist, both of us tensing in anticipation.

"It's time!" All Might exclaimed, his voice echoing in our ears through the wireless transceiver he provided us. "The match between Midoriya Izuku and Iida Tenya versus Bakugou Katsuki and Higuchi Reiko begins right now!"

Bakugou was in the air before All Might finished saying my name. Thrusting my arms out, I controlled the frost around his feet to cushion his fall and facilitate movement without a need for his Quirk, which would've been too loud to use as a means of stealth transportation. It took quite a bit of pleading to get him to agree not to make something explode every two seconds, but we needed the surprise attack to our advantage.

I realized our opponents made it to the fourth floor around the thirty second mark. Unnatural cracks appeared in the ice, almost like someone nailed a pick onto the surface; in this case, the result of Iida and Midoriya's combined weight. As soon as that thought crossed my mind, I heard the cautious pattering of footsteps from around the corridor.

Bakugou stiffened and bent his knees, but having expected this, I strapped his feet down with the frozen liquid before he could pounce at the culprits. Huffing out an exasperated sigh, I ignored his glare and held up three fingers, lowering one with each second. By the time my hand shaped into a fist, I spotted the familiar tuft of green.

 _It's time_.

The ice around his ankles shattered as I sent Bakugou hurtling towards the other team. His arms straightened behind him, innocuous blasts erupting from his palms to help maneuver his direction in mid-air. Bringing his hand forward, he detonated an explosion with enough force to create a smokescreen that filled the whole passageway. It didn't take a genius to know he aimed the attack at Midoriya.

Iida shoved him aside before either of them could get hurt, but the fact that I clearly saw his movements meant that he didn't react at his usual speed. The sneak attack must have done its job and caught him off guard, though as I had expected, the same couldn't be said about his partner.

"I figured Kacchan would come for me first," Midoriya said, fixing a resolute gaze on the blond as he dusted himself off.

"Come on, Deku," Bakugou grinned, firecrackers popping at his fingertips. "It's no fun if you dodge."

He would've probably dragged out the trash talk given the opportunity, but Iida didn't plan on wasting any more time, charging so fast that I only caught a blur of black and white. Knowing his target, I quickly surrounded Bakugou with pillars of ice that rose up from the ground. The kick aimed at his back didn't even come close.

"Higuchi-san?" Iida spluttered, tripping over his feet in surprise. "You're here? With Bakugou-san?"

"Hi," I said.

Bakugou slipped through an interstice between the ice and catapulted himself towards Midoriya with frightening precision. I watched in consternation as he drew back his right hand, but Midoriya had been expecting that and lurched forward in an attempt to grab the arm closing in on his face.

"Midoriya-san!" Iida exclaimed.

The blond fired a shot at the floor at the last possible second. His body capsized and the abrupt change in momentum placed him directly above the shorter boy. Midoriya's eyes widened, absolutely astounded, and then another explosion resounded through the halls. When the smoke cleared, I saw him slumped against the wall struggling to stand, and Bakugou retracting a clenched fist.

 _His left fist._

"But how did he know?" Midoriya mumbled weakly, gaping at his childhood friend in disbelief. "Kacchan always starts with a right swing!"

"You think I'd let you touch me?" Bakugou sneered.

Despite the disdain in his tone, I couldn't help the grin slipping through my dour expression. Bakugou didn't do compliments, verbal or not, but this time he deserved the praise. Had I not been absolutely positive that he'd deck me in the face for it, I might've attempted to give him a hi-five.

"Iida-kun," Midoriya winced, beckoning at his teammate. His voice lowered to a whisper, but I could read his lips, and the next word he spoke made me clamber to my feet.

"Go."

Iida disappeared from his place next to Midoriya. Muttering a curse under my breath, I slammed my hands to the ground to form a blockade of glaciers stretching down the aisle and ascending to the ceiling. The speedster kept moving too fast to break in time and braced himself for impact, but just as he approached a head on collision, the ice shattered from an overwhelming gust of air that almost literally blew me away.

Midoriya cradled his right index finger to his chest. Iida jostled against the ice, pushing himself to his feet. I aimed crystal shards at the engines on his calves, but he reacted swifter than I expected and managed to evade without much effort.

"Bakugou!"

I peeled off a slab of ice from the floor and briskly situated it over my head. More than a little upset at Midoriya's precipitous display of power, he let out a feral growl and used his rage to bound towards me in a single leap. His boots pounding against the shield made me flinch, but I ignored the discomfort and launched him into the air.

"You're not going anywhere, Two-Bit!"

Iida barely looked behind him before a left hook sent him flying into an adjacent wall. In a rapid chain of events, another incredible gale of wind blew Bakugou back a few spaces, subsequently causing him to careen towards me. Instincts told me to deflect the incoming blow, but I decided I couldn't risk injuring him and took the brunt of the crash. As soon as he slammed into me, I felt the oxygen escape my lungs.

"Get off," I grunted.

Bakugou seethed to the point where I didn't think he even noticed me there, much less crushed under the bulk of his weight. I shoved him off none too gently and reached into his pockets for the cloth needed to capture the rival team.

"Distract him," I muttered, ripping off a piece for me to use. "I can take care of Iida, but Deku keeps breaking through the ice. Make sure he doesn't this time."

"I'll fucking kill him," Bakugou snarled, fingers crackling.

Before I could tell him _no, definitely don't do that_ , Iida shot back to his feet. The second he took a step forward, I stockpiled the crystalline solids all over the floors and liquified the resulting mass before freezing us both in a substantial block of ice. Thawing the area in my immediate vicinity allowed me to move freely whilst he remained contained, which gave me an opening to bind his wrists and ankles with the capture cloth.

 _Brilliant_ , the voice cooed. _Absolutely brilliant, darling._

Iida erupted into a fit of coughs as soon as I released my hold on our ice prison. Fortunately, the latter had a helmet on, so I didn't have to worry about him suffocating or accidentally drowning. As I slipped it off his head, he stared at me with comically wide eyes, his usually neat hair sopping and unkempt.

"That was brilliant, Higuchi-san," Iida wheezed.

I grimaced at his choice of words, but I shook it off and managed a smile as I untied the knots constricting him. "You were spectacular, Iida."

Suddenly, I heard another explosion. It sounded a bit further away, muffled by walls and distance, but the fact that I still heard it, felt it, even, unsettled me. The code red alarms in my mind went off when I looked up and found Bakugou and Midoriya nowhere in sight.

"Not good," I mumbled, quickly helping Iida lean against the wall.

He glanced at my expression and shifted his into one of sympathy. "I commend you for efforts."

"Just pulling my weight," I said, frowning guiltily at his unrelenting shivers. "Will you be alright here by yourself?"

Iida nodded, barely managing a tired smile. I wasn't sure if it was because of the effects of being drenched in frigid water, the urgency in my tone, or the thought of having to deal with my partner. Maybe it was all three, but I didn't have time to stay and find out. Bidding him farewell with a sportive salute, I turned on my heel, hastening to find a head of ash blond.

* * *

I didn't have many friends growing up, but contrary to a plethora of coming-of-age movies about teenagers ironically made by adults, I was never bullied, never even teased for something as trivial as an unfortunate haircut like most kids were at some point in their childhood. I didn't even think I was all that shy or antisocial. I just didn't meet a lot of other children I cared to befriend.

The first time I met him didn't leave an overly lasting impression, but through observing his interactions with everyone else, I saw a lot of my foils in Midoriya. Tortured for so long by someone he admired, the chance to be rid of that baggage must seem like a dream come true, and I thought maybe that meant he wanted the life I had. I, of course, couldn't be further from the truth.

I would've never referred to Bakugou Katsuki as a childhood friend, never would've been able to accept an appellation with such harrowing connotations. I was never the type to think the grass was greener on the other side, but I had a habit of taking the things I had for granted. First world problems at its finest. If Midoriya lived that kind of life, he might've ended up like me, and no one deserved that.

But him?

He told me I could call him Deku.

Deku, the sobriquet his childhood friend and bully gave him in a deplorable act of subjugation as early as four years old. Somehow, Midoroya turned it into something worth smiling about, and yet I told him I'd hold off on calling him that because what? I didn't want to be a third wheel? It was almost laughable.

His growth had a lot to do with his absolute willingness to go the extra mile for people who meant something to him, good or bad. Aside from Ochako, maybe Deku and Yaoyorozu, perhaps Todoroki and Iida, or even Bakugou in the event of a God given miracle, I wasn't sure if I considered my classmates as friends, but I knew, indisputably, that they meant something to me now, too.

To care about something so much that it felt worth my time and effort, to choose what to be defined by instead of allowing others to decide for me, to find a reason to move and not stay so content in my idleness—

I wanted that more than anything.

* * *

It didn't take long for me to find the two boys on the ground floor, both throwing punches meant to seriously maim. Half of Deku's mask had been torched to reveal his distinctive moss curls and the rest of his costume appeared scuffed and shredded in more areas than I cared to count. His scraped skin and the sweat dripping from his forehead likely resulted from the explosions, but despite all of that, his resolve never wavered.

Bakugou didn't look anywhere near as injured, but I could tell the fight wore him down mentally and emotionally as his attacks became stronger and slower, more powerful and less refined. It turned out to be a battle of wills, and his incandescent crimson eyes, unhinged and unraveled, reflected how desperately he refused to lose.

"That's enough, Bakugou," I demanded.

He paused at the sound of his name, shoulders quivering as his body turned towards me. I felt my breath hitch when the wicked grin splitting his lips eased into a depraved kind of smirk that said he didn't give a damn about anything I said to him.

"Fuck you."

I took a step forward as Bakugou loaded the gauntlets wrapped around his wrists. Another when Deku pushed off against the wall and reared his fist. And then another while they charged their attacks. In a final act of stupidity or utter brilliance, I stopped right in the middle just before impact.

"What are you doing?" Iida shouted in bewilderment, emerging from seemingly out of thin air. He huffed loudly, hands on his knees as he gawked at the stalemate the three of us locked ourselves in. "Midoriya-san, Bakugou-san, Higuchi-san! _Move_!"

Deku looked terrified, but he'd been aiming to redirect his attack to the ceiling and managed to avoid hitting me at the last second. The pressure from the blow, however, demolished the space above us all the way to the rooftop, causing millions of debris to loom over our heads. I stood my ground, stalling and still, and then finally crimson met crimson.

 _I'm counting on you not to miss._

Bakugou shifted his open palm from my face to the detritus streaking towards us. For added measure, I guarded his wrist with an improvised brace made of ice and then clapped my hands together, concentrating on feeling the moisture in the air around us. He fired, and the sheer power of his blast incinerated every piece of inbound wreckage.

My ears started ringing, but I ignored the searing migraine developing and focused on amassing the vapor I needed for our last line of defense. Lack of a proper term led to my referring to it as divination due to the faculty of clairvoyance. In terms of using it with my Quirk, it'd allow me to have an unlimited and available source of power because, technically speaking, liquid was everywhere: in the air, in the soil, in our bodies.

To manipulate something I couldn't see, however, required mastery of my other senses, including a sixth that depended entirely on my ability to recognize and hone that energy. I always said it took too much out of me to establish that kind of connection, much less control, but that was just a sad excuse to get out of Saturday morning training. I really wished I hadn't been so nihilistic.

But.

 _But_.

It felt like hours before I felt it, though it couldn't have been more than a few seconds since Bakugou got rid of the waste. I could _see_ the liquid in my mind, everything from the dregs in my flask to the humidity in the atmosphere and even the blood running through my veins.

The steel beams supporting the structure came tumbling down in an instant, but the moisture in the air was now malleable under my fingertips. Before the weight of the entire complex buried us alive, a massive dome of water took shape above us and hardened into ice as sturdy as diamonds.

Each time something hammered against the dome, I felt like I was being pummeled, almost like an extreme version of Bakugou stepping on my ice shield. Beams of metal. Fragments of glass. Slabs of concrete. Bruises upon bruises beneath the expanse of my skin.

"Rei," Deku rasped, reaching for me with his unharmed hand.

Had I not been so preoccupied by the pain, I might've paled at the sight of his other arm, bruised and bleeding and definitely broken. Iida hurried over to assist him in standing, brows furrowed in anxiousness as he inspected our collective injuries.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Bakugou asked, scowling at the disgruntled expression on my face.

He stood at my other side, eyes wary and his wrist still covered by a thin blanket of frost. It hung limply at his side, but luckily didn't look like anything worse than a sprain. As much as I wanted to go off on him for a multitude of things, I couldn't even reply without feeling my lungs cave in.

"It looks like this dome is acting like some type of shock absorption," Iida explained on my behalf, adjusting Deku's arm around his shoulder. "The way that works is by converting the kinetic energy of the collisions into another form of energy, which is then dissipated."

"Your point, Nerd?"

"The ice itself acts as a device expediting this process, but the actual shock absorber is Higuchi-san," Iida concluded, his features grim. "I wouldn't be surprised if she's feeling every single grain falling on us right now."

Blood trickled out of my nose and down my chin, tainting the ground beneath me with drops of wine. The three boys swapped wide-eyed glances, obviously at a loss on what to do, so I forced myself to shake my head in a sad attempt to reassure them.

"You need to get out of here," I said, hissing in pain and urgency. "I mean, we—I am really not trying to be that kind of Hero right now."

Bakugou had the nerve to frown. "There's still time left."

"I forfeit," Deku said immediately.

"We're not finished—"

"Are you daft?" I snapped, glaring at last. My arms convulsed as the exhaustion began to seep into my bones and the accrued damage to my muscles wore my patience thin. "There's no way we can stay here!"

"Higuchi-san is right," Iida said, smartly interrupting us before the argument could escalate. "I'll carry Midoriya-san."

"Thanks," I cringed as a particularly large chunk of cinder block plowed against the ice, glancing at the blond. "I know your wrist isn't in the best shape right now, but I need another explosion."

"Shut the fuck up," Bakugou grumbled, but despite his words, the grenadier bracers on his costume glowed red, indicating that he stored them with his nitroglycerin-like sweat.

"What about you, Rei?" Deku asked, brows furrowed in concern.

"Bakugou will carry me."

" _What?_ "

"I'm not going to offer to stay here and die," I said, rolling my eyes as all three shrieked in varying tones of incredulity and indignation. "Deku, you can't walk. Iida, you already agreed to help him. Bakugou, it's either me or Deku, and I'm not about to risk you throwing him into the flames."

Deku paled.

"No offense," I added.

"Stop fucking telling me what to do!" the blond bit back.

I stared at him blankly, too tired to feel exasperated. "Bakugou, will you help me?"

Bakugou grit his teeth, his fists clenched so tightly I thought he might break through the skin. An uncomfortable silence passed as the other two switched their attention between me and the blond, but he clicked his tongue, jerking his head in a gesture that looked like the closest he'd ever get to conceding.

"We'll leave when the other two are outside," I said, barely stifling my relief. Bakugou wouldn't have appreciated my pressing the matter and I couldn't afford to have him reject this favor. "If anything else happens, at least they can call for help."

"We're just betting on me dying with you?" he asked sardonically.

"You won't die."

We both understood my unspoken _you're better than that_. Frowning again, Bakugou turned around, firing at the wall leading directly onto the street. Sunlight filtered into the aperture as Iida swept Deku into his arms, speeding off without another word.

"You're a shitty piece of work, Guppy," Bakugou muttered, not quite sighing as he stripped off his gauntlets. He held them with one hand while the other circled around my back, tugging me forward as his free arm picked me up behind my knees.

My face wrinkled at the taste of iron in my mouth. "I'm going to be sick."

"I'll fucking drop you."

The dome of ice shook violently as the last of the infrastructure fell apart, leaving me to sustain the full weight of whatever remained of the building. Bakugou spit out a string of curses when I jolted from overexertion and quickened his pace. As soon as we made it outside, he released me from his grasp and I fell to the dirt with an unceremonious thud—along with the collapsing building behind us.

"This sucks," I groaned.

Iida and Deku rejoined us and gaped at the scene through the dust, unable to speak as the realization that we could've been part of the rubble hit us full force. It stayed like for at least a minute when our earpieces suddenly reverberated with All Might's stentorian announcement.

 _"Villain Team wins!"_

* * *

The rest of our classmates greeted us with identical expressions of horror as we arrived in the screening room. Deku went to the school doctor, Recovery Girl, for treatment on his arm, which left me with a brooding Iida and an unusually quiet Bakugou. My nose had since stopped bleeding after All Might gave me a handkerchief to clean my face, but I still felt like my brain split open and I knew it showed.

"That sucked," I said flatly, repeating my earlier words.

Ochako took that as her cue to scamper over to me, inflating her cheeks with a breath she only released once she swathed me in her arms. I blinked, startled, but gently patted the top of her head in return.

"I was so worried!" she cried.

Yaoyorozu approached us with a stern glare. Her eyes perused my form for any significant injuries, but they softened when she only found minor contusions and a head of disheveled hair. I offered her a hopefully reassuring smile and then quirked a brow at Jirō Kyōka and Kaminari Denki peeking over her shoulder.

"I'm happy to see you're alright," Yaoyorozu said, clutching a hand over her chest.

Kaminari vigorously bobbed his head, his ochre tresses flitting around his face. "That was so intense, dude!"

"Intense doesn't even cover half of it," Jirō said, her arms crossed. "I felt like I was going to die every five seconds just from watching you guys."

From my peripheral, I noticed Kirishima Eijirō appear next to Bakugou, whose eyes remained downcast in an uncharacteristic display of humility. Sero Hanta followed after him with an impish grin, while Ashido Mina rounded up their corner practically bouncing on the heels of her feet.

"You were awesome out there, Bakugou," Kirishima grinned, shaking his head. "Crazy, but awesome. Knocking back all the debris like that was super impressive!"

Sero smirked, casually throwing his arms behind his neck. "I would've bet real money on you attempting to do all of it on your own, but you and Higuchi worked pretty well together."

"How'd you get him to carry you, Higuchi?" Ashido asked, brows raised.

Despite his sulking, I could feel a specific set of crimson emit a killing intent that manifested into a glare sharper than daggers aimed in my direction. I frowned as the other two dozen pairs of eyes in the room turned to me next and huffed, haughtily crossing my arms.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"The way you captured Iida-kun was amazing, Higuchi-chan!" Hagakure Tooru said from somewhere to my left.

"Yes, amazing," Mineta Minoru uttered dreamily, inching his way to my side. "So strong! So smart! So _sexy_ —"

Before he could get within a foot from me, Asui Tsuyu whipped out her tongue and slapped him in the face. Ojiro Mashirao chuckled as the degenerate dwarf flew to the other side of the room and Shōji Mezō gave her six simultaneous thumbs-ups. In the corner behind them, hidden in the shadows, Tokoyami Fumikage rolled his eyes.

"Higuchi-san seemed to have a strategy for every situation," Ojiro said, turning to me with a grin.

"Your techniques are very well-practiced," Shōji said, nodding his head. "I didn't realize collecting moisture in the air was an ability of yours."

"I'm not that great at it," I said, lifting my hands in mock defense when Ochako loosened her grip to give me a disapproving glare.

"I'd say it was reckless stopping Bakugou and Midoriya like that," Tokoyami said, folding his arms across his chest. "But I suppose you knew with their Quirks it was either they destroyed the building or each other."

"It really was incredible, Higuchi-chan," Asui croaked with a smile, her tongue peeking out. "Midoriya-chan and Iida-chan are a good team, but they're good friends first. You and Bakugou-chan won even though the two of you are hardly even acquaintances."

"I know, right?" Kirishima prodded Bakugou on the shoulder, which prompted the blond to swat his hand away. "We couldn't hear what you were saying, but it looked like you didn't even need to talk to know what the other person was thinking!"

"Midoriya was pretty cool, too," Sero said, sighing a bit. "It's a bummer he still can't control his Quirk."

"Iida-san did very well," Yaoyorozu stated, switching to a more professional tone. "He supported his teammate when he needed it, but knew when to go after the weapon and held his own against Higuchi-san's formidable defenses. Midoriya-san was a bit too rash about the utilization of his Quirk and depended too much on his past history with Bakugou-san, who did an unexpectedly good job cooperating with his partner, but he still allowed his anger to best him and ended up leaving her behind with the enemy to deal with an obviously personal grudge against Midoriya-san."

A stunned silence enveloped the room as Yaoyorozu concluded her spiel with a glowing smile. The majority of the class tried to process what she said, while a select few marveled at her glowing presence. Mineta, in particular, drooled as she folded her arms across her chest. I used his own slobber to land a solid blow in between his eyes, snickering as he crumpled to the floor.

"Nice shot," Todoroki said, his shoulder brushing against mine as he slipped past our bespectacled classmate to stand beside me.

I nodded at him in thanks, inwardly noting that I had felt the warmth before I heard him talk. "I wish I had more liquid."

"Why not just use the moisture in the air again?"

"Too tired," I said, admittedly disappointed. "It takes a lot of energy and that's something I don't have right now."

Unaware that I knocked him out, Mineta scrambled from the ground and marched over to Asui in protest, his eyes, of course, zoomed in on her bust. Before I could do anything else, I felt a familiar chill at my fingertips, and a second later I held a wad of ice about the size of a snowball. I tossed it at the head of purple balls without a second thought, and he tipped over like a bowling pin. Todoroki let out a quiet hum of what I assumed to be approval.

"What did you think of the fight?" I asked, pretending not to notice the crumbs of frost on his fingers. "Dramatic enough?"

I would've considered such a question an opening for small talk and backpedaled before I ended up stuck in a cycle of nod, smile, and repeat, but in hindsight, those situations involved generally friendly people like Kirishima or Asui. Though I appreciated the feedback I'd received so far, I needed to hear criticism from someone who wouldn't humor me with praise if he didn't truly believe the words himself.

"The stunt you pulled at the end was impressive," Todoroki said, nonchalant. "But it was equal parts foolish if you weren't accustomed to doing it."

"I'm not."

"Like I said, foolish."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

"Leaving the weapon unattended might've not been the best idea either," he tacked on, apparently not passing up the chance to thoroughly critique me.

"Yeah," I said, sighing in resignation. "It was either that or let Bakugou go on a rampage. Given the circumstances, I don't think I would've done that part differently."

"He's more subtle than I realized," Todoroki muttered under his breath, eyeing the blond across the room.

Bakugou had since removed himself from the center of the crowd, his head dipped low enough that his hair now covered his eyes. I knew he didn't feel content with our win, and although he hadn't said anything to me since he carried me out of the building, I knew a lot of it had to do with his unfinished fight with Deku.

 _Midoriya_ , I rectified in my head, mildly alarmed at the realization that I had been calling him Deku since the end of our match.

"Great job, everyone! I was going to explain how the review session works, but it looks like you all have it figured out," All Might proclaimed, his awkward laugh interrupting our conversation. "With that said, let us commence with our next battle! Shōji Mezō and Todoroki Shouto from Team B versus Ojiro Mashirao and Hagakure Tōru from Team I, please proceed to the next location!"

Todoroki and I exchanged glances, mine curious and his almost bored. Crimson gleamed like rubies as hundreds of strategies implementing his Quirk zipped through my mind. Turquoise and silver pooled like rain clouds and an ocean by the coast, ready and waiting like an impending storm.

"See you soon," I said, deliberately.

Todoroki merely nodded, but his lips quirked almost imperceptibly at the implication of my words. I counted on one hand the people who I truly believed could take him on in a fair fight, and at that moment, I heard the voice again.

 _Do not let him surpass you_.

As always, I wanted to ignore it. I lived with it telling me what to do, how to feel, who to be, and at some point or another, I taught myself how to shut it out. Most days, it felt more like second nature to me than a genuine smile or an unadulterated laugh. I was too complacent. I settled. I didn't care if this was how I was meant to live, because although I rejected it with every fiber of my being, I never spoke up, never denied it.

For the first time in a long time, I wished I had the courage to respond. Deku didn't end up in the infirmary because he wanted to stay dead last. Bakugou doesn't look like he has an ongoing existential crisis because our victory proved he deserved to be number one. The two of them had problems to work out amongst each other and within themselves, but they didn't limit themselves to those insecurities, and they continued to grow as a result.

My gaze traveled to said blond standing on the far side of the room. His eyes met mine for the third time that day, and suddenly, I remembered the words I told him before our fight. The point of this whole thing is to be better than we were yesterday, but how much of that was real? I experienced firsthand how dangerous it could be for a child so young exposed to truths only considered as such because enough people believed them.

Likewise, it was probably because of the voices in his own head whispering promises and praise that Bakugou had such deep insecurities in the first place. He had something to prove, be it to Deku, the rest of the world, or himself. As I thought about the expectations people had of me and the ones I had for myself, I wondered if maybe we were more alike than either of us cared to admit.

* * *

It was raining when I arrived home, the sort of rain that came down in sporadic torrents before disappearing as if it had never even come at all. All Might dismissed us with a few extra words of encouragement and a passionate declaration of _Plus Ultra_ , which only fueled the flame that had ignited during one of my many inner monologues.

"I'm back," I called out.

As I hung my jacket and slipped off my sodden loafers, I heard faint footsteps mix with the pitter-patter of the spring rain. Heels clacked against the hardwood floors not unlike a feline scratching her claws against the wall, and when the sound stopped, I didn't have to look to know who stood at the doorway. Only one other person lived in this house, and the scent of her perfume wafted through the room as she stepped inside.

"Welcome home, Reiko."

Lavandin. Saffron. Vetiver. Cinnamon. It promised an audacious personality, one deliberately powerful, and in addition to that _voice_ , so much more commanding in person, I—

"Mother."

I was suffocating.

* * *

 **postscript**

most of class 1-A has officially been introduced! i hope you're excited for the USJ arc coming up. as always, i'm grateful for any feedback so please don't hesitate to drop a few words! thank you for reading (✿◠‿◠)


	4. Halcyon Days

No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

—

 **IV. Halcyon Days**

—

* * *

I felt an itch under my skin.

It started out as a dull throbbing that made my fingers twitch and muscles ache, but nails clawing at flesh until it turned raw and red wouldn't provide much relief if the pins and needles punctured my veins. I read somewhere once that we always wake up before dying in our dreams because our subconscious doesn't know what happens after death. Had I not known any better, I might have considered this some sort of heuristic approach to finding out.

Suppose I had a dream, and in this dream I fell off the moon. I didn't die because we can't die in dreams, and so my only options include somehow surviving in space or waking up. In order to endure the solitude, I had to accept my fate—alone in the nothingness, left to rot until I dwindled into nothing myself. Did embracing the darkness make me a monster? Or would I have been considered as such if I succumbed to the emptiness instead?

… _wake up._

My eyes shot open just in time to deflect the fist charging at my face. Knuckles rapped against the flat edge of my sword, the force of the impact blowing my opponent back and hurtling me in the opposite direction. The dark blur lunged at me again, but I lodged the tip of my blade into the ground and used it to pivot, landing a solid kick to her abdomen. I hadn't even taken a breath when she disappeared and suddenly manifested in the shadows behind me.

"Too slow," she said, fingers curling around my neck.

The oxygen in my vicinity dispersed until I fell to my knees, trapped in an airtight cavity. It felt like the ceiling expanded then contracted and expanded once more as swirls of color pervaded my senses. Reds and yellows and wisps of blue surrounded me, but the blackness eventually took over, and I was the only thing that remained.

Scholars defined the concept of space-time as a mode of linear extensions, which the Minkowski principle divided into four dimensions: three dimensions of space and one dimension of time. Unbeknownst to most people, a fifth plane existed as a separate expanse in the depths of our own continuum. My mother created it with her Quirk, a magnificent force granting her the ability to manipulate space itself.

It remained nameless to those aware of its existence, a number exclusive to people who have seen it for themselves, but for as long as I could remember, I called it Shihoshi. I was four years old and months shy of developing my own when I caught my first glimpse of it, and to this day, I remember so clearly the way she looked at that moment. Hooded crimson eyes pierced through the darkness, seeing nothing and everything at the same time.

The itching always stopped before I succumbed to the shadows, but Shihoshi rotted brains to the point where people didn't feel like people anymore. My breaths came in spasmodic gasps as I coiled into fetal position, limbs aching and skin peeling in cold sweat. I felt the senses that had been stripped away from me return in small doses, starting with noises and followed by scents. Reality came crashing down soon after.

"That's enough for today," my mother said. "You're capable of so much more than this, Reiko."

As her footsteps faded, the rain began to fall. No longer isolated in my own head, I wondered how something that always gave me solace could feel so cold against my skin, each drop piercing like the pins and needles still tingling beneath the surface. I sat outside for a few minutes in spite of that, hours even. I didn't bother counting the seconds.

I thought about the darkness surrounding me and the darkness within myself. My only options included somehow surviving or waking up, and I've already established that I didn't consider myself much of a morning person. Did the choices I make turn me into a monster? Or did I make those decisions because I inherently am one? Not wanting to know the answer, I shut my eyes and hoped for a better dream.

In place of stars and skies, a lake house lingered in the back of my mind. Sage green shingles inspired by a deeper sacramento fortified the roof, battered and worn yet resolutely sheltering the cottage from the elements. Nondescript ornaments hung out on the front porch, inviting visitors with a harmonious chime that sounded almost like a hello.

Bricks lined the fireplace caging a flame crackling defiantly against the chilly air seeping into the cracks of the walls. Slow and prickling, an equipoise manifested in the heat of the sunrise exultantly peeking through the clouds. The rain from the real world scattered into this one like a far-off memory, but this time, it felt warm.

* * *

"Hi, Kan-oji."

Kan Sekijirō, or Kan-oji as I grew up calling him, sat at his desk sorting through papers when I stepped inside his classroom. Class 1-B looked like a mirror image of ours with a few insignificant exceptions, but for some reason or another, I felt like a fish out of water. Luckily, I found a familiar semblance of comfort in the way his amber eyes gleamed at me.

"I was starting to wonder if you dropped out," Kan-oji said, his wolfish grin revealing notoriously sharp canines. "What's up, kid?"

"Things have been a little hectic," I admitted, still feeling the soreness from combat training and the aches courtesy of my spars against my mother. "I would've stopped by earlier if I could."

"You're in Shōta's class, right?" Kan-oji asked, chuckling as I nodded glumly in response. "Hectic must be an understatement."

"Let's just say it's been less than a week and I already feel like this Hero thing might be more trouble than it's worth."

"I think you're being a little dramatic."

"Or maybe you're just being mean."

"Did you forget I helped raise you?" Kan-oji smirked, ruffling my hair. "And because of that, I know you didn't come here just to throw a couple of jabs at me."

I swatted his hand away and tried not to get offended at his statement. I didn't do things for no reason, but that didn't mean I always had ulterior motives. It peeved me just a little bit that Kan-oji could tell now wasn't one of those times. Taking a deep breath to collect myself, I bowed at a ninety degree angle, stray locks nearly touching the floor.

"Please train me."

The rest of the world knew the man I called Kan-oji as the Blood King. Like his name suggested, his Quirk allowed him to manipulate blood, changing its solubility much like how I can with liquid. Kan-oji offered to train me back during my first year in middle school at the behest of my mother, but I, of course, vehemently refused.

Despite the scarcity of drawbacks to my Quirk, I did the bare minimum instead of actually making the most out of it. I always knew my grudge against my mom held me back, not unlike Bakugou's anger towards Midoriya stunting his growth, but if I wanted to take my own advice about bettering ourselves, I needed to tone down the stubbornness and stop my complacency altogether.

I almost expected Kan-oji to ask why or why now, if I was ready or perhaps list all the reasons why I wasn't, and I would've understood because I knew as well as the next person that I might've been in over my head, but all I wanted at the moment was an answer—

"Sure."

"That's it?" I asked, brows furrowed.

"Don't look so surprised," Kan-oji snorted, shaking his head. "To think I'd see the day you willingly ask me for help. I guess Shōta is a good influence on you, huh?"

"Okay, yeah, let's go with that," I said, hiding my smile by rolling my eyes. "Thanks, Kan-oji, it means a lot."

"No problem, kid," Kan-oji said, ruffling my hair again. I let it slide just this once. "More importantly, though, how did you manage to rope Shōta into letting you skip class for this?"

I gestured to his empty classroom, unimpressed. "None of your students are even here yet."

"My students are in the locker rooms changing into their Hero costumes," Kan-oji mused, taking his phone out of his pocket to show me the time.

 _8:16._

"Shit—"

* * *

"As I was saying before the interruption," Aizawa-sensei paused, eyeing me purposely from across the room. I cringed at the attention and slid lower in my seat. "It's time to decide on a class representative."

Cheers erupted from just about every corner in the room. Kirishima shot to his feet in seconds, arms waving high above his head. Kaminari perked up from the seat in front of him. Bakugou demanded attention by striking his palms against his desk. Aoyama literally sparkled, but Ashido pounced on him before he could so much as get in a word. Even Deku shyly raised a hand.

I couldn't help but notice how bored the boy next to me looked in comparison. His cheek rested on a propped fist and his mismatched eyes stared at nothing in particular. Suddenly, they moved and met mine, startling me enough to send a flurry of shivers down my spine. Todoroki paused, but slowly averted his gaze elsewhere. I resisted the urge to groan, quietly admonishing myself for gaping at him again, or worse, getting caught.

"This is not a job for just anyone who wants to do it," Iida said, his hand raised the highest out of anyone else volunteering. "If we intend to apply a democratic process, then I propose we hold a proper election to decide on our class representative."

"Why would you suggest that?" Kaminari groaned, throwing his head back in exasperation.

Kirishima gestured to the people sitting around him and frowned. "Everyone is going to end up voting for themselves."

"Even if we vote for someone else, we just started getting to know each other," Asui said, tapping a finger to her chin. "How can we trust ourselves to vote for the right person?"

Iida frowned and turned to our teacher for guidance, but the man had crawled inside his sleeping bag and slumped into an undignified heap on the floor.

"I don't care," Aizawa-sensei said, dismissing us with a limp wave of his hand. "Just make sure you choose before homeroom ends."

The primary duties of a class representative usually included working with students to resolve problems and acting as a bridge between their peers and those in higher authority. I felt a small part of me justify that I could be a good candidate, but this job needed better than good, and more importantly, someone who actually wanted to do it.

Those parameters already narrowed down prospects to about three or four students, but not counting the people who didn't look at all interested (beside me, Todoroki yawned), I figured that only one person could fulfill the role without burning the school to the ground.

"I vote for Iida."

Multiple heads whipped in my direction as various expressions of incredulity stared me down. Iida gasped, his bottom lip quivering as the glasses perched on his nose emphasized the his watery eyes. To add to my mortification, he flattened his arms to his sides and bent down until his forehead met his knees, repeatedly bowing in my direction.

"You're saying he's your type?" Mineta screeched.

"That's not what I said at all," I said, tone acerbic. "He managed to take command of the room and offered an astute proposal that allowed us to make the most of an unforeseen situation. I can't speak on your behalf, nor would I ever want to, but that sounds like a reliable class representative to me."

Mineta cowered, and the rest of the class stood still to the point where I could've sworn I heard a pencil drop on the other side of the room. Iida broke the silence by practically bursting into tears, but Ochako spoke up first, hands clasped together as she gazed at me with starry eyes and a vibrant smile.

"You're so cool, Rei!"

"That totally sounded like something a class president would say!" Ashido cooed, skipping towards us with Aoyama trailing closely behind her.

Bakugou scowled, whipping around in his seat to glare at me. "You tryin' to trick us into voting for you?"

"You really do have impaired hearing," I said, frowning in partly feigned, mostly genuine sympathy.

"Fucking _Guppy_ —"

"Don't you want to be the representative, Rei?" Deku asked, blissfully unaware of the blond seething even further at his intervention.

" _Fucking Deku_ —"

"I've been late to class two out of three days," I pointed out, chuckling awkwardly as Aizawa-sensei glowered at me over his quilt. Bakugou, on the other hand, looked ready to pop a vein. "I don't think I can handle the responsibility of nineteen other people."

"I think Midoriya-chan can do a good job," Asui said, hopping over to the circle spreading around my desk.

"Definitely," Ochako beamed, her eyes widening as she swiftly turned to me. "Not that I think he's better than you or anything! I think you'd both be great, Rei!"

"No offense either, Higuchi," Sero said, grinning. "But I feel like Yaoyorozu is more of the class president type."

Yaoyorozu looked flustered, her cheeks tinged pink. "Me?"

"Don't worry about it," I told them, my lips quirking into a smile. "I agree with all of you."

Truth be told, Yaoyorozu would've been my first choice. Not only a recommended student, but she had the highest scores for both physical and written exams in our class, which proved her more than capable of the responsibilities that came with the position. I just wasn't sure if she believed it as much as I did.

"I'm no more qualified than you, Higuchi-san," Yaoyorozu said, turning to the boy sitting in between us. "In fact, I'm sure you and Todoroki-san are much more capable than myself."

"Give yourself more credit, Yaoyorozu," Todoroki droned, barely stifling another yawn.

Jirō smirked, slipping in to sit beside her friend. "Yaoyorozu placed first in the apprehension tests, didn't she?"

"Todoroki-san placed second," Ojiro said, fixing his gaze on his opponent from combat training. "However, I agree that Yaoyorozu-san seems better suited for the task."

"Higuchi-san made a convincing argument for Iida," Shōji said, his many elbows propped onto the back of his chair.

Tokoyami also turned his seat, thoughtfully glancing at Iida a few feet away. "He's also the reason we started having this discussion in the first place."

In the midst of said discussion, I exchanged a startled look with Yaoyorozu at the realization that the entire class save for Bakugou and Kirishima, who sat with the blond, migrated to our corner of the room.

"I guess that means everyone decided," I said, looking at each of the faces around us. "Like I said, I vote for Iida."

Hands shot up around the room in agreement: Yaoyorozu, Tokoyami, Shōji, and Aoyama. Much to my pleasant surprise, Ashido and Kirishima's joined theirs not a second later.

"I vote for Yaoyorozu," Jirō said, pointing one of her ear jacks at the blushing girl.

Sero threw up a lazy peace sign. "Me, too."

"Me three!" Mineta shouted.

Todoroki slothfully raised a hand. Based on the floating sleeve, Hagakure mimicked the gesture, followed by Kaminari and Ojiro behind her.

"I vote for Deku-kun!" Ochako cheered with a smile, causing said boy to stutter his thanks.

"It would be shameful to vote for myself after Higuchi-san said such kind words on my behalf," Iida said, clearing his throat. "I must second this nomination."

Asui nodded, looking up at a smiling Kōda. "We vote for Midoriya-chan, too!"

"That's four votes for Deku, seven for Yaoyorozu, and seven for Iida. Are you voting or not, Bakugou?"

The blond stuck up his middle finger and I rolled my eyes, disappointed but not surprised. "Well, Deku, I guess that means you're the tie breaker."

"I don't know," Deku stammered, twisting his fingers together. "I mean, I think Yaoyorozu-san and Iida-kun are both amazing, but… I have to… ah, sorry, Yaoyorozu-san…"

"Fucking spit it out!"

"Sorry, Kacchan!" Deku cried, flushing an even darker shade of red. "I vote for Iida-kun!"

At that, Aizawa-sensei emerged from his cocoon, unzipping it from the inside with an ease that could only come from practice. He pulled out a fruit pouch and sipped on the straw, his beady eyes narrowing as an unspoken warning for the people out of their seats. They clambered back to their desks without another word, and I couldn't help but think that should be considered another Quirk entirely.

"It's official," Aizawa-sensei said. "Class Representative Iida Tenya and Deputy Class Representative Yaoyorozu Momo, your duties start effective immediately."

* * *

Lunch at Yūei turned out to be the busiest time of day. The Departments of Support, Management, and the Hero Course had break in the same hour with at least thirty tables stretching across the mess hall, each seating about a dozen people. Even for an elite academy like Yūei, hundreds of starving teenagers congregating in one area seemed impossible to organize, much less control.

In terms of high school experiences, I suppose cliques remained one of the more inevitable aspects of teenhood. As I looked around the cafeteria, I caught a giggling Yaoyorozu in the middle of a conversation with Jirō, Ashido, and Hagakure. Kirishima sat with Sero, Kaminari, and a reluctant, possibly kidnapped Bakugou. Iida and Ochako flanked Deku at a table on the opposite side of the cafeteria.

"Why are you sitting here?" Todoroki asked, looking up from a half-eaten bowl of cold soba.

I took a bite of my spicy ramen before pointing out, brows raised, "You sat down after I did."

"The other tables are occupied," Todoroki said, his expression nonchalant. "I didn't have many options."

It clicked all too suddenly why he asked his initial question. I could have sat with Deku and Ochako or maybe Yaoyorozu and the rest of the girls, and yet I decided to sit alone. Truth be told, I didn't feel like exhausting my capacity for conversation during the only break I had in the day. Not that I would admit that to him, of course, but I thought it fitting of him to ask.

His question probably had less to do with my personal motivations than it did his attempt at understanding other people in general. That said, I couldn't help contemplate my own. I counted a few empty seats scattered across the hall, most of them not that far from where some of our classmates sat. Todoroki didn't have many options, sure, but he still had a choice.

"Why did you think to sit here?" I asked, stabbing at the remains of my food. "I don't mind, but I had the impression you're more of a lone wolf."

Todoroki tilted his head to the side, more confused than curious. "I have three older siblings."

"Not exactly what I meant, but that's cool," I said, fighting back a surprisingly stubborn grin. "I couldn't be bothered to walk to the opposite side of the cafeteria while carrying a bowl of soup."

"That's it?"

"Can you prove otherwise?"

"No, but even if I could," Todoroki said, shrugging his shoulders a bit. "I'm not inclined to comment on your idleness."

"You just did—"

 _"Attention!_ "

The sudden alarm that pierced through the cafeteria halted our conversation. Todoroki and I shot to our feet in an instant, and from my peripheral, I saw Iida, Yaoyorozu, and Bakugou do the same. It took everyone else a couple of extra breaths to process the robotic warning reverberating across campus, but the dam broke as soon as they did.

" _Level Three security breach! All students and faculty, please evacuate immediately!"_

In a matter of seconds, a stampede stretched from the far end of the mess hall to the exit that led to the quad outside. Dozens of students shoved and clawed their way past each other. My mind was a whirl of thoughts, but as I looked around at all the chaos, one stuck out the most.

"None of the teachers are here," I mumbled, abruptly spinning on my heel in an attempt to escape the mob.

Todoroki spared me a glance over his shoulder. "Where are you going, Higuchi?"

"This is a false alarm," I called out to him, struggling to push past the flow of bodies. "The teachers wouldn't leave their students unprotected during a real threat. If I'm right, then everyone freaking out like this is probably more dangerous than whatever triggered the security—"

I let out a grunt when someone nearly twice my size knocked me into a window, slamming my side against the glass. As soon as Todoroki caught up to me, I felt familiar chill in the air, and a wall of ice immediately appeared between us and the incoming traffic.

"You're more prone to accidents than I expected," Todoroki said, placing his right hand on my shoulder.

I stared blankly as a thin layer of frost blanketed the bruising area. "I resent that."

"What, the truth?"

"Ouch."

"Try not to touch it," Todoroki said, half-sighing and half-heartedly rolling his eyes.

In the near distance, I heard multiple people scream a familiar name. I shaved down part of the ice surrounding us and raised a brow at the sight of our new Class Representative whizzing past our heads, landing none too gracefully on the neon exit sign everyone else clamored towards.

"Everything is fine!" Iida declared, clutching onto the steel beams on the ceiling for balance. "It is just the media! Please, everyone, act in a manner that is fitting for our school! There is no need to worry!"

I craned my neck when he gestured at something over my head. A massive crowd of reporters hounded Aizawa-sensei and Yamada-sensei, also known as Present Mic, with a shameless barrage of unfiltered questions. The two teachers firmly held their ground, looking more exasperated than I had ever seen them.

As students calmed down and began to disperse, Todoroki stepped away from me and melted the wall of ice. My gaze shifted over to Iida, who had since climbed down from his makeshift podium and reunited with Ochako and Midoriya in addition to Kirishima and Kaminari, the latter wildly praising his passionate spiel.

"You're right," Todoroki said.

I almost didn't hear him over the gears turning in my mind, but I nodded, reluctantly. "Yeah, I am."

But _why_ was I right? I doubted any of those reporters had a Quirk powerful enough to take down a custom built security system, but even if that was the case, they should've known that trespassing was a punishable offense. Unless, of course, someone else let them in, which then brought us back to the first question.

 _Why?_

* * *

Two hours after the literal Lunch Rush incident, Aizawa-sensei informed us today's Hero training would take place at an off campus facility. As did most of our homeroom announcements, the news came out of nowhere, but it didn't bother us much considering all everyone cared about was the prospect of experiencing real Hero work.

"Class 1-A!" Iida exclaimed, aggressively blowing the whistle hanging around his neck. "To make boarding easier, I suggest lining up in order of our student numbers! Please hurry! Time is precious!"

As we piled into the bus, murmurs among friends slowly escalated to excited chatter shared among the whole class. I'd been planning to take a nap on the way there, but no less than two minutes after we started moving, Todoroki fell asleep beside me, and Tsuyu, as she recently asked us to call her, said something that piqued my interest.

"Midoriya-chan," she said, innocently tipping her head. "Your Quirk is a lot like All Might's."

Deku choked.

"All Might doesn't get hurt when he uses his Quirk, though," Kirishima pointed out from beside her, and I didn't fail to notice the relief that flooded Deku's features at his words. "But it's still a neat power to have! My hardening isn't exactly impressive in comparison, y'know?"

"No, I think it's really cool!" Deku said, shaking his head.

"Yeah?" Kirishima grinned, scratching at his cheek. "You're a pretty nice dude, Midoriya!"

My reflex reaction almost had me agree with Tsuyu, but the trepidation that settled across Deku's face at the mere mention of All Might told me that perhaps we shouldn't have that talk just yet. I didn't have a reason to redirect the conversation to Tsuyu herself, but a certain grinning redhead looked like fair game.

"You're pretty awesome, too, Kirishima," I said, leaning forward to rest my arms atop the seat in front of me.

Kirishima blinked a few times, taken aback by the sudden attention, but he didn't hesitate to offer me a grateful smile. I gave him one of my own, a little pleased that he responded so kindly. Most people categorized me into the ice princess archetype, and though I knew I had a bit of that image to maintain, I didn't necessarily want to keep such a reputation among my peers, or at least, those who didn't deserve to see it.

"Thanks, Higuchi!" Kirishima beamed.

I waved a dismissive hand in his direction, shaking my head. "You can call me Rei."

"Wait, is this a thing now?" Kaminari asked, wiggling his brows in my direction. "I mean, like, do we all get to call you that?"

I bite the inside of my cheek to keep myself from saying something worth regretting. In the short time I've known him, I learned right away that Kaminari loved flirting, but unlike Mineta, vile and flagrant with no sense of respect or boundaries, he drew a respectful line. If I rejected him, it could actually hurt his feelings, but if I took him seriously, he might never leave me alone.

"You can me whatever you want," I said, smiling at him in a way that hopefully came across more playful than purposeful. "I just can't promise I'll respond."

"Worth a shot," Kaminari smirked, mischief lighting his eyes. "What do you say about going out sometime, babe?"

"Careful, Kaminari," Ashido said, her gaze suggestively flickering between me and the boy dozing off beside me.

"What?" Kaminari said, arms crossed behind his head. "I'm engaging in friendly banter with my friend, Rei. Notice the nickname indicating our friendship?"

I snorted in spite of myself, but the slip in façade seemed to earn a more genuine grin from the blond. "Sounds kind of scandalous."

"Oh, that reminds me!" Hagakure squealed, the sleeves on her blazer flailing around. "I saw Rei and Todoroki-kun sitting together at lunch!"

"I should've known Todoroki is your real type!" Mineta gasped, crocodile tears welling up in his eyes.

 _No one will care if I throw him off the bus—_

Sero snickered from somewhere behind me. "Did no one else see the gigantic ice wall Todoroki put up when some guy bumped into her?"

"That's no laughing matter," Yaoyorozu said, shaking her head. "I hope you're alright, Higuchi-san."

"Just a bruise, Yaoyorozu."

"Man, that sucks," Kirishima sighed, frowning. "I guess that's another perk of having a flashy Quirk, though."

"To get girls?" Kaminari and Mineta chorused.

Kirishima groaned, lifting a palm to his forehead. "To protect people! Hero Course, remember?"

"Todoroki is definitely at the top of that list, don't you think?" Ashido said, grinning mischievously at me.

"So is Bakugou-chan," Tsuyu added, her tongue sticking out as she gazed thoughtfully at said blond. "But Bakugou-chan is always mad so I doubt he'll be very popular."

"What the fuck?" Bakugou growled, his head whipping in her direction.

Tsuyu grinned. "See?"

"How on Earth did he develop such a foul mouth?" Yaoyorozu murmured, eyeing the blond and the handful of brave souls chuckling at his expense.

I turned to respond when I felt the warmth at my side coruscate and then dwindle down as if smothered. Curious, I glanced at the boy supposedly sleeping beside me, his eyes still closed and his arms idly crossed over his chest. A thrilling performance, but I could tell from his breathing that he had already woken up.

"How long have you been listening?" I asked.

"Long enough."

"Elaborate."

Todoroki opened a single eye to look at me, his expression nonchalant, and a strange sense of satisfaction prickled my skin when crimson met turquoise. "I heard I'm your 'type.'"

"Touché," I frowned, begrudgingly impressed. "How does literally nothing embarrass you?"

Before he could reply, the bus lurched to a sudden stop. I would've hit my forehead against the seat in front of me had Todoroki not thrust out an arm to keep me in place, but the same couldn't be said for Ochako rubbing at the pink mark on her temple. Yaoyorozu and I gave her identical sympathetic grins as Aizawa-sensei spoke up from the front, slowly rising to his feet.

"We're here," he said.

* * *

 **postscript**

the battle at USJ will officially start in the next chapter! thank you again for reading (๑ᴗ๑)


	5. Save Point

No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

—

 **V. Save Point**

—

* * *

The last time I went to an amusement park, I had just turned three years old. My parents paid an absurd amount of money to print our family photo on a mug now collecting dust somewhere in the kitchen. I remember my dad tickled me right before the flash went off and said, "Don't be afraid to smile when you're happy," and I proudly smiled the sort of smile that showed off all the teeth I didn't have.

I beamed so brightly that I truly or almost believed I felt content. Truly on a good day. Most days, though, I didn't know how to believe I could be that happy in the first place.

Sure, a picture is worth a thousand words, but what happens when the words I want to hear aren't enough?

* * *

"Welcome, Class 1-A!"

Thirteen, Pro Hero and our special instructor for the day, brought to fruition the Unforeseen Simulation Joint in hopes of giving aspiring Heroes a chance to practice carrying out rescue missions in preparation for the real world. As such, it contained multiple zones meant to replicate natural disasters, including but not limited to: ruins, landslides, mountains, conflagration, flood, and torrential downpour.

"Is everyone here familiar with my Quirk?" Thirteen-sensei asked.

The majority of our class nodded, but that didn't surprise me. Thirteen-sensei participated in thousands of rescue operations over the years. His fingertips created black holes that disintegrated matter at the atomic level, and though he proved himself capable of maintaining control, the risk of accidents caused by such a volatile Quirk still remained.

"I have the honor of saving lives because of it," Thirteen-sensei said, his voice tinging with pride before steeping with a particularly somber tone. "But if I'm not careful, I can destroy twice as many in the blink of an eye."

Ochako stopped bouncing on the heels of her feet, and based on her reaction, I assumed she never pondered that thought until now. Not that I blamed her. Most people strived to take part in Heroics without fully grasping the consequences that came along with the profession until they experienced it firsthand. For Thirteen-sensei, that meant the potential for permanent collateral damage.

"In that respect, it's safe to say that no one is completely safe in a superhuman society," Thirteen-sensei paused, then spoke resoundly. "The possibility of our powers turning out to be too much for us to handle will always exist. Don't take that for granted.

"I'm here to help you learn how to use those powers to the absolute best of your ability, but it's because of you that we have a future we can look forward to. We must protect that with everything we have."

A moment of stillness swept over our class, but once we digested his words, the majority burst into various forms of cheers and applause. Kirishima pumped his fist into the air, Kaminari and Ashido exchanged high fives, and Ochako levitated at least three feet off the ground. Despite standing a bit further away from the crowd, even Bakugou appeared galvanized by the speech.

And then came the itch.

I barely registered Thirteen-sensei informing us that All Might ran a bit late to oversee our training. I couldn't tell if it came as some freaky side effect of divining, but everything seemed duller than before. The itch itself felt more like a quiet discomfort than pins and needles, and after a sharp intake of breath, I realized that the sensation somehow dampened my senses.

Deku straightened at his idol's name, making a comment or maybe asking a question. His voice sounded like it came from the other side of a closed door. My fingers twitched and my muscles ached and my gut wrenched and it felt familiar, too familiar, and that, perhaps, unnerved me the most.

"Aizawa-sensei," I rasped.

It came out as a scarcely audible sound, but Yaoyorozu and Todoroki, who stood on either side of me, immediately turned at the desperation in my tone. I didn't know how to tell them because I didn't know what to tell them, didn't know why I felt like this or why I couldn't bring myself to move.

The phantom shackles on my feet chained me down and I swore I felt fingers on my neck as a bizarre sense of déjà vu finally brought me to my knees. Todoroki caught me before I hit the ground, eyes wide in an unusual display of urgency.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

I felt hands ghost my back after Yaoyorozu knelt beside me, her own eyes glinting with worry as she smoothed my hair. The rest of our classmates erupted into a cacophony of alarmed murmurs and briskly crowded around us, making it even more difficult for me to breathe. I reached for something, anything to hold, and eventually my hands found themselves clutching another pair.

"What's going on?" Aizawa-sensei asked, appearing in front of us while Todoroki and Yaoyorozu helped me sit up on the ground.

"Not sure," I mumbled. "I don't know what happened, but I think something's here. I feel something here."

"What's here?" Todoroki asked, his breath fanning my cheek. I noticed then that I had taken hold of his hand, which purposely emitted a faint chill in an attempt to calm my anxiety.

"Darkness. No, it's different. I don't know how, but it's different. It's colder," Todoroki instantly slackened his grip, but I shook my head, softly grasping his fingers in reassurance. "No. No, I meant this thing, whatever it is—"

Before I could try convincing myself that I had entered a delusion or a bad dream, the lights illuminating the rotunda shattered. In the distance, I felt the water spouting from the fountain at the center of the edifice flicker and disappear, reappear, and then disappear again entirely.

"What the hell is that?" Bakugou muttered.

A swirl of black and purple materialized out of nothing, and out of that nothing came something—a hand, and then a face, and then a body. More faces, more bodies. Hundreds of them, each displaying various degrees of sick smiles and sour scowls. I didn't have to guess to know what a hoard of that size meant.

"Villains?" Ashido gasped.

Kaminari gaped in disbelief. "At Yūei? How the hell?"

"It's them. It had to be them," I said, clambering to my feet. Todoroki and Yaoyorozu steadied me by my shoulders as I stumbled to regain my balance. "They had to have been the ones who triggered the security system during lunch."

"The Unforeseen Simulation Joint has far less security than the main campus," Iida said, his brows knitted in consternation. "They must have used the media as a distraction in order to figure out the exact time of our arrival."

I didn't notice Aizawa-sensei springing to his feet until he towered over our class. The yellow goggles I recognized from the rare news photos that exist of him covered his precious eyes, and the cloth that hung so casually around his neck now surrounded his whole body. For the first time since we'd met him, the man in front of us no longer looked like a mere teacher.

"I need all of you to get out of here," Eraserhead said, consciously placing himself between us and the enemy.

"No," I said, shaking my head, but not out of refusal. "I mean, _yes_ , we need to get out of here as soon as we can, but the one with the warp Quirk will likely attack as soon as we move."

"I don't think she's wrong, senpai," Thirteen said, his muscles tense as he monitored the Villains sluggishly approaching even closer. "We need some kind of plan."

"Damn it," Aizawa-sensei cursed under his breath. "Kaminari, are you able to contact the school with your Quirk?"

Kaminari looked taken aback at first, but hastily tapped on the transmitter attached to his ear, golden irises narrowed into an uncharacteristic glare. "No, I can't get a clear read."

"That can't be a coincidence," Todoroki said, brows furrowed. "They must have someone nearby who can interfere with the radio frequency."

"Higuchi," Aizawa-sensei said suddenly, shifting his attention to me. "How did you know they were here?"

My lips pursed into a grim line as I mulled over the most coherent way to explain my theory. "I think the warper triggered something in me. My mother has a space manipulation Quirk not unlike it." Divination probably had something to do with it, too, but there was no time to contemplate the logistics now.

"Because warping is an extension of space manipulation," Aizawa-sensei deduced. "Can you hear what they're saying, Shōji?"

Shōji nodded, his limbs transforming into a multitude of eyes and ears. "The mist and the man next to him are talking about All Might. It looks they expected him to be here," he paused, hesitant. "They want to kill him."

"Their target is the Number One Pro Hero?" Sero asked, frowning. "Guess they're not so bright."

"Don't count on it," Bakugou said, his tone eerily calm. "Those bastards wouldn't have gone through all this trouble if they didn't have something they thought could actually take him out."

A number of Villains erupted into random cheers, and the fact that they managed to get close enough for us to hear their cackling made me more nervous than I wanted to admit. The pause in the conversation as we struggled to figure out how to get help unsettled us even further until Thirteen-sensei stepped forward.

"Class Representative, I entrust this to you," Thirteen-sensei said, bowing to Iida. "Please run to the main campus and inform them of the current situation. Do not look back."

"Pardon me?" Iida stuttered, his posture stiffening at the sudden request.

"I can't wait any longer," Aizawa-sensei said, adjusting his goggles. "Protect the students, Thirteen."

"Yes, senpai!"

"Get out as soon as you can and stay close together in case the warper comes," Aizawa-sensei told the rest of us, eyes narrowed. "Iida, you go on ahead. Don't look back."

Iida shook his head. "Sensei—"

"Iida," I interrupted, my fingers resting on the container at my waist. "I didn't want to be the class representative because I didn't trust myself to take care of the class. The reason I voted for you is because I believe _you_ can."

"Higuchi isn't the only one who voted for you either!" Ashido exclaimed, her signature acid seeping through her palms.

Tokoyami nodded, his cloak rustling as the shadow it carried grew increasingly restless. "We're counting on you."

"Like our teachers said," Kirishima said, hardening his hands. "No matter what, don't look behind you! Just trust us to watch your back!"

His words precipitated a shift in the atmosphere that I wouldn't have noticed had I not been paying such close attention to my peers. As I watched Mashirao straighten his tail, Jirō extend her earphone jacks, and Kaminari store electricity in his fingertips, I revisited the thought of having an outer body experience. Iida must've seen what I saw because he took one long look at everyone and steeled his resolve at last.

"Let the bastards come," Bakugou snarled, the grenades on his arms glowing red.

Ochako nodded, perhaps agreeing with him for the first time, eyes blazing with determination. "We'll hold our ground until reinforcements arrive!"

"All Might isn't here to protect us," Deku murmured, fists clenched tightly at his sides. "This time, we have to depend on each other!"

He was right. All of them were. It didn't matter anymore who these Villains were or how they got here or why they came here in the first place. The simulation ended as soon as they stepped foot in the building, and that left little time to think about the what ifs. The enemy came prepared to fight. We'd fight back not to defeat them, but to help each other survive.

"Don't worry about us, sensei," Yaoyorozu said, a bo staff materializing out of her arm. "This fight will require your undivided attention. We'll stay out of your way as much as we can."

Villains approached the base of the stairs. It looked like a few of them possessed long distance Quirks, but for now they stood far enough out of range, and the rest appeared to have skills that depended heavily on close combat.

"Todoroki, Higuchi, can you provide some cover?" Aizawa-sensei asked.

Todoroki quickly produced a sheet of verglas at our feet. I knelt down and placed my palms flat against the frozen surface, reverting it into steam that steadily clouded the room. Aizawa-sensei nodded in thanks, his gaze lingering on each of his students as if hoping to express one more message.

 _Take care of each other._

Without another word, Eraserhead lunged. Thirteen-sensei ushered the rest of us towards the exit, and soon enough our pounding footsteps drowned out the fight that started behind us.

"I'm afraid I can't let you leave."

Now that I became aware of its presence, I didn't react quite as severely when the flurry of purple mist warped in front of us. The fact that I still felt it at all, however, remained acutely perplexing.

"Who are you?" Kirishima demanded.

"We are the League of Villains," the warper said, matter-of-fact like we wouldn't have known unless he told us. "It might be a bit presumptuous to admit, but I suppose you won't live to spread the news. We've invited ourselves here to ensure that the Symbol of Peace takes his final breath."

The urge to rush towards Deku shot through my system, an instinctive reaction to protect that I couldn't put into words. He gasped at the admission, at the thought of these Villains succeeding in what they sought out to accomplish, and his concern for himself hardly compared to his fear for All Might. I can't say if that same fear gave me the courage to throw myself in front of him, but a single thought kept repeating itself as I did.

 _What if they realize they can get their hands on the next best thing?_

Thirteen-sensei opened the capsules on his gloves in preparation to consume the mist with his Quirk. I almost took a step back when I noticed a figure in my peripheral bend his knees, an action I unfortunately recognized all too well.

"Don't be stupid," I muttered, swiftly grabbing him by the elbow.

Bakugou none too gently shrugged me off. "Stop fucking telling me what to do all the time!"

"What if he warps you to the flood zone?" I asked, straining to keep my voice down. "I get that defense isn't your thing, but this time we can't afford to be so careless."

"I don't need this sad attempt at a pep talk—"

"'Don't look behind you,'" I recited, discreetly uncapping my flask. "That's what Kirishima said, right? I'll watch your back."

Everything after that happened impossibly fast.

"I've kept you long enough," the mist said, his voice nowhere and everywhere at the same time. "This is the part where you scatter."

Thirteen-sensei started the absorption process before any of us even realized he moved. Threads of black and purple billowed around him, but at the last second the mist created a warp gate that transported the attack elsewhere. It flickered twice, thrice, even a fourth time as it decided on a place to emerge, and much to our shock, that happened to be right behind our teacher.

My hands shot out in front of me before I even realized I moved. A miniature waterfall surrounded Thirteen-sensei, keeping him from getting sucked into his own black hole long enough for him to shut the aperture at his fingertips. His suit, torn and tattered in a number of places, served as a reminder I still wasn't fast enough, but he was here, and he was alive, and that was all that mattered.

Bakugou launched into the air before the mist fully gathered himself, fists drawn and then suddenly aimed in front of him. The resulting explosion caught the ill prepared Villain off guard, and in the midst of the smoke, Thirteen-sensei staggered to his feet.

"Go now, Class President!"

Any reservations Iida had about his mission completely flew out the window, and in a matter of seconds, he, himself, soared towards the entrance. The mist surfaced right behind him, but I created a barrage of frozen pillars. Bakugou used them to propel himself forward and fired another explosion, blowing away the wisps of purple long enough for Iida to escape.

"You shouldn't have done that," the warper seethed, his body spreading through the room like a conflagration ready to engulf everything in its path. "Pray your little friend doesn't show his face here again or I'll make sure he suffers a fate even worse than yours."

"Grab hold of someone!" Thirteen-sensei shouted.

Darkness once again smothered my senses as the threads of black and purple swept through us like a heavy gust of wind. It almost felt like the all-encompassing darkness I had grown used to except this time no inner voices pulled me out of my torpor, and I couldn't help but think about the irony in wishing that _she_ , of all people, could be here to help. As my body vanished on the spot, the fleeting thought dissipated, and with it the warm hand slipping out of mine.

* * *

The first thing I felt in the aftermath was a throbbing pain. I dropped about twenty feet from the air and far from gracefully landed on the stern of a ship, but it wasn't until I heard the _what the fuck_ did I realize the ache actually resulted from a certain blond mercilessly kicking me off him.

"You fucking jinxed me."

Because of _course_ I ended up in the _flood zone_ with _Bakugou_.

"Please stop talking," I said bluntly. "You should consider yourself lucky to have me, of all people, here."

I reminded myself that a lot of things could've made such a terrible situation even worse. I could've been sent to the landslide zone with no liquid for me to use aside from the two drops of moisture I might've been able to extract from the soil. I could've ended up alone and surrounded by enemies. I could've been stuck with _Mineta_.

"Do you know of a way to get back to shore?" Tokoyami asked.

Bakugou and I found him hanging off the edge of the ship shortly after realizing what happened. His sentient shadow supported his weight whilst simultaneously keeping a lookout for any incoming hostiles, but Dark Shadow fortunately recognized us as comrades.

"I would've tried freezing the lake, but I don't think I can cover the whole thing," I said, peering over the side of the boat.

Bakugou rolled his eyes, scoffing. "Fuckin' lucky she said."

"Don't be rude," Ochako said, cheeks puffed out in defiance. "It's not like you're doing much right now either!"

"Who the fuck are you?"

"My name is Uraraka Ochako!"

"You've been in our class this whole fucking time?" Bakugou frowned, squinting at the brunette.

I recognized the genuine confusion in his tone and could no longer help the puckish grin from peeking through my surly expression. Ochako flushed in embarrassment and hurriedly jumped to her feet, but as entertaining as it would be to watch their banter unfold, I had to draw the line somewhere.

"Let's save it for later," I interrupted, looking down at the tranquil surface of the water. "There are probably Villains in there trying to lure us out."

"Waiting around doesn't seem like a very appealing option," Tokoyami said, his arms crossed.

Bakugou scowled and slammed a hand down on the railing. "I'm not sitting around like a damn duck!"

"We have to locate the enemy as soon as possible," I said, brain rattling with possible strategies. "I don't know how long Aizawa-sensei can keep using his Quirk."

As soon as the words left my mouth, at least two dozen Villains emerged from the lake, circling the ship like a herd of sharks stalking their prey. From what I could tell, all of their Quirks had an advantage in the water, but it didn't look like any of them could manipulate the actual substance. Unfortunately, situations like this called for more than just evasion and escape.

We couldn't risk them attacking someone else or regrouping with larger numbers, meaning we had to dispose of them entirely. The most logical solution to that would be to go on the offensive, but we wouldn't be able to properly engage in combat on a boat, and taking the fight to the water sat atop the list of things that would've made a terrible situation extremely worse. With land and sea out of the question, that left one alternative.

"Blow up the ship," I told the blond.

"Stop fucking doing that."

"What?"

"Deciding shit on your own and then saying it like they're supposed to know what you mean."

I didn't miss the fact that Bakugou said _they_ , and oddly enough, felt comforted by the implication. It wasn't beneath me to admit that we worked well together and being able to trust that he had my back even if by slightly unconventional means took a load off my shoulders.

"Bakugou, blow up the ship," I said, unflinching despite the disbelieving stares directed towards me. "Ochako, use your zero gravity on the debris. Tokoyami and Dark Shadow, help her move around. I'll contain the Villains and keep them in one spot."

"You want the chipmunk to bury them in the rubble," Bakugou said, his eyes flickering with cognizance.

Ochako gaped at him. "Chipmunk?"

"Yeah," I said, lips turning the slightest bit upward. "I can get us to shore once they're incapacitated."

"I must apologize in advance for any discomfort," Tokoyami said, his forehead creasing as his shadow seemed to eye us with a hint of suspicion. "Dark Shadow is usually tame, but with the lights out, he's stronger and more difficult to restrain."

Though I'd seen his Quirk in action before, this would be the first time I witnessed Dark Shadow in its element. I wondered how someone who already fought so formidably could become even more powerful at the flick of a switch, but if Tokoyami took the time to warn us about him, I should've probably considered it in our best interests to listen.

"No worries, Tokoyami-kun!" Ochako said, flashing her pearly teeth. "Dark Shadow, huh? You're pretty cute, aren't you? I bet you're just a big softy!"

Tokoyami stared at us with an expression I had yet to see from him. His eyes widened in gratitude and unconcealed bewilderment as Ochako pet a bashful Dark Shadow like a puppy, a bit far removed from his usually reserved and collected self.

"Let's just get this over with," Bakugou grumbled, bracers lighting up to indicate he stored them with nitroglycerin.

Unlike Tokoyami, he didn't bother giving us any sort of heads up, but I'd experienced his Quirk firsthand enough times to know we had seconds before the place literally blew into pieces. I nudged Ochako and she grinned, using her zero gravity on herself just as a deafening explosion rocked the craft.

" _Die!_ "

Bakugou managed to destroy a good chunk of the hull in a single blast. As the ship lurched from the impact, Ochako made her rounds through the wreckage. Dark Shadow lifted her by the shoulders, blocking stray fragments from striking her while she speedily touched her fingers to the scraps of metal surrounding us.

A few of the Villains had enough sense to look confused, but the majority snickered and pointed fingers as if just waiting for us to sink. Taking a deep breath, I twirled my arms in circular motions and felt the water below us spin in conjunction. It shaped into a massive whirlpool increasing in diameter the faster I moved, and I watched in satisfaction as the current roiled, hauling bodies to the center of the swirling vortex.

"What the hell? Kurogiri sent a brat with water manipulation to the flood zone?" an ensemble of peeved voices exclaimed in disbelief.

Some of the Villains had Quirks that helped them avoid the whirlpool, but I expected that. Moving my hands in front of me again, I watched as a winnowing chill rippled across the surface of the reservoir, slowly transforming the water into ice. I nodded at Ochako, and the brunette responded by clasping her hands together.

"Release!"

I couldn't help but gape in awe as the detritus previously hovering above our heads came raining down from the sky in a barrage comparable to a hailstorm. The timber planks at our feet buckled, but I focused on keeping the ice in tact as it shattered from the collisons, solidifying the water again and again in real time. No more than a handful of seconds later, dozens of bodies ended up stuck in a glacier and buried underneath mountains of trash.

"I can't believe it worked!" Ochako squealed, eyes pinching shut.

Tokoyami nodded in bemusement as she slapped a hand over her mouth. "That was impressive, Uraraka."

"What the hell?" Bakugou muttered, frowning at the queasy expression that took over her features. "Why the fuck do you look like you're about to hurl?"

The adrenaline in my system overwhelmed the tiredness creeping into my bones, and while Bakugou and Tokoyami looked perfectly fine in comparison, the same couldn't be said for Ochako spewing glitter off the side of the crystal rock we stood on. Despite that, and despite the ringing in my ears, I couldn't help but smile as I propelled us to shore.

"You're amazing," I said, reveling in the wind that tickled my face. Tokoyami dipped his head in tune with a preening Dark Shadow. Ochako managed to give me a thumbs up, arms still curled around her stomach, but still beaming. "All of you."

I didn't expect to hear from the blond sitting beside me, but he let out a snort, and a satisfied smirk accompanied the lilt in his voice. "No way in hell did those halfwits stand a chance against a plan like that."

"That almost sounded like a compliment."

"You're a shitty piece of shit."

"And your level of vocabulary is astounding."

"I don't give a fucking shit," Bakugou said, rolling his eyes. "The mist bastard and the freak with the hands are still out there. Would it kill you to go faster?"

Not so subtly picking up our pace, I kept my gaze forward. Enemies more capable than the ones we just disposed of still needed to be defeated and the smoke where Aizawa-sensei fought loomed closer to remind us that. Bakugou jumped off the slab of ice as soon as we touched down, eager as ever, but he didn't have a chance to get very far before a sprightly voice rang out.

"You guys sure are a sight for sore eyes!"

Kirishima gave us a crooked, boyish grin, his fist hardening to punch out a stray lout as he bounded towards our group. Tsuyu and Deku appeared relatively unscathed behind him, save for the broken index finger the latter tucked securely against his chest. The three of them must have ended up in the same area as evidenced by their equally soaked clothes, and for a moment, I relished in the relief of knowing they had each other.

"Hey, guys!" Ochako exclaimed.

A little further away, I spotted a head of red and white stepping over a stockpile of bodies encased in ice at his feet. His eyes, sharp as ever, seemed a bit tighter and more calculating as he surveyed the damage in front of him. I recalled the warmth I felt when the mist separated our class, but before I could humor myself with the notion, his eyes finally stopped on mine.

I let out a breath I didn't realize I held as Todoroki moved to stand beside me, his own breath coming out in puffs of cold air. _I'm glad you're safe_ and _it's good to see you_ immediately came to mind, but he kept staring, and silver and turquoise seemed to have a way of short circuiting my brain.

"Hello," Todoroki said.

And just like that, the corners of my mouth curled upward.

* * *

It might've been a bit disconcerting for a ragtag bunch of first years to be taking out Villains with this much ease, but the eight of us formed a rather impressive motley crew. Most of our enemies amounted to nothing more than low-level hoodlums from any random alley in the city, though the possibility of more powerful enemies lurking throughout the facility remained.

Kurogiri, as one of the delinquents referred to the warper, clearly served as one of the main members in the League. The man with the mint hair and the creature he kept closeby probably posed an equal or bigger threat. I didn't think any of us could take them down if it came to a fight, but the thought of Aizawa-sensei facing them by himself almost scared me more than the Villains themselves.

"The League of Villains," Deku muttered, brows furrowed in concern for our teachers and our friends. "What do they have that could go up against All Might?"

He hadn't even finished his sentence when I heard it. Human and not human at the same time, low and raucous and warbling in a way that foisted upon my eardrums. It sounded like something between a moan and a screech, guttural and foreboding as my heart thumped painfully against my chest, pleading desperately for me to stay away.

"What's this?"

His voice came out quietly, a stark contrast to the inhuman rumbling that sounded through the tense air only seconds prior. I looked up at the mint haired man, my insides screaming louder as I stared at the multitude of severed hands clasped onto his body, the most prominent attached to his face.

"How did these kids make it all the way here?" said the man, absentmindedly scratching at his pale neck. "Not that it matters. It'll be game over soon, but Eraserhead put up a good fight."

He stepped aside to reveal a sight that forced me to take a horrified step back. Aizawa-sensei laid on the ground, bruised and beaten and lying motionless in a pool of his own blood, his body broken in more places than I bothered to count. His arms twisted in awkward, unimaginable angles, and the skin around his right elbow, cracked and crumbled, looked just about ready to dissolve into dust.

"All Might is really taking his time," the man sighed, pacing between the monster pinning down Aizawa-sensei and the mist that had materialized beside him. "Do you think he'll come when he hears their screams?"

The man launched himself forward at a breakneck speed that made thinking impossible, but I knew he would move, and I knew that my next decision depended less on what I thought I should do and more on how I felt about the situation. Nauseous and terrified and so, _so_ angry at these monsters for assaulting my teacher, attacking my friends, and attempting to hurt us all, I _knew_ he would move—

And so I moved first.

He stood in front of me with an outstretched hand mere centimeters away from my face. I felt something press against my back and vaguely recognized it as a quivering Ochako at the same time everyone else realized that I intercepted the attack initially meant for her.

"I can't move," the man said, his voice rising in a frenzied crescendo. "What did you do to me? I can't move, I can't move—"

His tone replaced my adrenaline with an immediate sense of panic. I just remember thinking about how much I wanted him to stop. A tug in the back of mind told me to pull like I had grabbed onto something I couldn't see or name, but the sight of my own eyes reflected in his blood red irises distracted me enough to let it slip.

The man stood close enough that I could see him peek through the fingers on his face, but that meant he could see all of the emotions on mine just as clearly. I couldn't hold on for much longer, and he grinned as if mocking me, his hands stilling until both of us noticed them twitch.

"Oh," he purred.

His skin ghosted the surface of my cheek and I gasped at the contact, heart beating erratically, more than a little terrified. The fear, in all its glory, forced the world to move again.

"Get the fuck away from her!"

Claws seized the back of my costume, swiftly hauling me aside. I hit the ground hard and the impact knocked me out of my stupor in time to see a blond take my place. The pull I felt had long since disappeared, but before the man realized he regained control of his body, a barrier of ice shot out to keep him away.

"I'm sorry," Ochako cried, tears dropping at an alarming rate. "I'm sorry, please be okay, _he touched you_ —"

My breath hitched as I slapped a hand to my cheeks. I prepared myself for the worst, but my skin felt as smooth as it did yesterday and the day before that. Ochako didn't realize this, her eyes shut tightly as her body trembled, so I grabbed her hands and placed them against my face.

"I'm fine, Ochako."

Her eyes snapped open. "What?"

"I'm fine," I promised this time, clutching onto her hands. "You're fine. _We're_ fine."

Tsuyu and Deku stayed on the lookout behind us, their senses on high alert. Bakugou held his ground in front of me, his hands crackling like fireworks, and on either side of him stood a hardened Kirishima and Tokoyami, Dark Shadow curled protectively around him. I sucked in another breath and quickly took a look around.

"Are you okay?" Todoroki asked.

He knelt on my other side, his left hand hovering over my back while frost engulfed his right fist. Like always, I felt the heat on my spine before he spoke, but for some reason the warmth didn't seem quite as salient. His chest rose and fell at an irregular pace, and the condensation that appeared with every breath he took immediately caught my attention.

"Are _you_ okay?" I echoed.

Todoroki frowned, glancing at me from the corner of his eye. "Why do you ask?"

"You're colder than usual," I said, lightly grasping his right wrist. "Is there a limit to how often you can use your ice?"

His gaze shifted to where our hands met, a deeper set frown appearing on his face. Todoroki shook his head, slowly, almost reluctantly, but I felt his muscles relax beneath my fingertips even as the coldness spiked.

"Not now," Todoroki muttered.

His ice shattered.

 _Shit._

I released my hold on him and redirected the crystal shards pointing at us towards the mint haired man, but he just clicked his tongue in annoyance. The creature from earlier charged in front of him, taking the brunt of the attack, and within seconds after the smoke cleared it came out entirely unscathed.

"Do you think it's polite shutting me out like that?" the man asked, his nails scratching and scratching and scratching away at the skin on his neck. "If it wasn't for Nōmu, I'm sure that would've hurt."

"What, you're gonna cry?" Bakugou sneered.

"You're so full of surprises," the man said, ignoring the blond to peer at me. Todoroki inched closer. "To have parents gifted with such godlike powers and be stuck with what? Liquid manipulation? But despite that, you still found a way to pause time."

… _what?_

"What's that saying? Like father, like daughter," the man grinned, his head tipped to the side. "Isn't that right, princess?"

It felt like the clock stopped at that exact moment, and the longer I held his gaze, the more I felt myself tremble with an unspoken barrage of questions. I wanted to demand answers, to lash out and scream, to feel something, anything but this—cold and numb and afraid to ask how and why and _where is he_?—cold and numb and afraid because I didn't want to be alone again.

 _Alone._

 _Alone._

 _Alone._

"Don't you fucking dare let that piece of shit talk to you like that!"

I heard Bakugou's voice cut through the static in my mind, and the abrupt reminder of his presence snapped me out of my disillusions in an instant. Alone? I'd known them for a few days at best, but the people around me fought tooth and nail to make sure I survived. I owed it to them to acknowledge their place in my life, and that meant accepting the truth even if I hardly believed it.

 _I'm not alone._

"I don't know how you know my father," I said, forcing myself to stand. "And I'd be lying if I said I don't care, but trust me when I say _you_ don't know anything about _me_."

"You've got his spirit, too," the man said, scoffing indignantly. "How terribly annoying."

"I'm fucking tired of hearing you mumble about stupid shit," Bakugou growled, launching himself into the air.

The creature stood protectively in front of the mint haired man, but Bakugou swung a fist at Kurogiri, his signature right hook landing on a surprisingly solid body. Not a second later an explosion erupted from his palms, and the smoke cleared to reveal the warper trapped beneath his fingertips.

"I saw the metal when you tried keeping the two-bit extra from leaving," Bakugou smirked, his crimson eyes scintillating. "Move and I'll blast you to fucking oblivion."

In the midst of the commotion, Ochako rushed to her feet, swiping at her eyes with the back of her hand. Using the smokescreen as a cover, Dark Shadow helped her maneuver through the enemy territory, giving her an opening to use zero gravity on the limp body across from us. As Tokoyami pulled Ochako and his partner back to safety, Tsuyu snatched Aizawa-sensei back with a quick flick of her tongue.

"Brats! You're all brats!" the mint haired man spat, his nails scratching furiously at his neck. "Forget about his pride. I'll kill you all just for being pests!"

I felt a knot in my stomach forewarning another attack, and it only tightened when I realized his next target. His hand shot out once again, reaching for the blond still keeping the warp gate user at bay, but before anyone could react, the man stopped, fingers shaking.

"Damn," the man whispered. "You really are cool, Eraserhead."

My head twisted towards Tsuyu, her expression mirroring my own as we watched our homeroom teacher lift his head. His eyes, bleeding red from both his injuries and the activation of his Quirk, reflected an undeniable resolve to protect his students, to protect _us_ , and the sight nearly brought tears to my own.

"Aizawa-sensei!" came a chorus of gasps and cries of relief.

The following action happened too fast for me to see, but I heard it, felt it even. Every inch of me froze when the creature leapt forward, fists drawn as it aimed for the one person in our group who currently had no means of defending himself.

"Deku-kun!" Ochako shrieked, frantically thrusting her arms out. I knew she wouldn't make in time, but no matter how much I tried, I couldn't bring myself to move.

 _I'm sorry, Deku—_

 _Get out of there,_ _ **please**_ —

My heart stuttered for the umpteenth time that day as the inevitable occurred at last. I had braced myself for the worst and expected an empty space where Deku sat, but he looked perfectly intact, Bakugou suddenly sprawled on the ground beside him. A figure towered over them, hands placed on his hips, and I heard a round of sighs among my other classmates when we recognized the familiar face.

"Well," the mint haired man chuckled, his eyes glinting dangerously. "It looks like our Game Over is getting a Save after all."

* * *

All Might's sudden appearance elicited a plethora of visibly shaken reactions from the coterie gathered at the frontlines. He stood proud and tall with his signature grin plastered onto his face, unwavering like his promise that everything would be alright, and I wanted so badly to believe in his words. My tally of near death experiences, however, seemed to have turned me into more of a skeptic than I already was.

"This is bad," I mumbled.

Kirishima frowned, taking in my furrowed brows. "You don't really think they can take on All Might, do you?"

"They wanted him here for a reason," Todoroki said, fixing his mismatched gaze on the mint haired man. "And it looks like we're about to find out why."

All Might looked at us with a sad kind of grin that made my gut squeeze uncomfortably, but then he vanished, suddenly nowhere and everywhere at the same time. More villains came out of hiding one second and bodies by the dozen dropped to the ground in the next. Tsuyu, Ochako, and Aizawa-sensei disappeared behind me and stood at the base of the stairs at least fifty yards away.

"Bring them back," the mint haired man said, frowning at the warper next to him.

Kurogiri complied, his wispy limbs stretching in every direction as he set his sights on the two girls dashing up the steps, but a certain blond moved faster.

"Hey, shithead!"

Bakugou lurched forward, huge amounts of nitroglycerin concentrated at his palms. Not a moment too soon, an explosion went off above our heads, and through the smoke I caught him latching onto the tin man like a ticking bomb strapped to its target.

 _Check._

The beady-eyed monster turned out to be next piece to fall in what felt like a morbidly surrealistic game of chess. I might've considered it the final boss to defeat at an earlier point in the match, but watching it mindlessly stomp around made it all the more obvious that it served the real King as just another pawn.

"Nōmu," the man wearing the crown commanded. "Kill them all."

"Kirishima, jump!"

I knew I took a risk as soon as red eyes widened instead of immediately launching towards the crystalized rock I pitched in his direction. I spared a glance at the blond pinning down Kurogiri and thought about how his first time executing that same move had been done without hesitation, but I quickly reminded myself that not everyone had the same stubbornly savage streak.

"Warn a guy next time!" Kirishima shouted, haphazardly throwing his body on the slab of ice. He stuck the landing, looking more like his usual brazen self as I sent him careening towards the mint haired man

" _Brats_ ," the man parroted.

I trapped his hands in chunks of ice to prevent him from touching the boy coming his way. It shattered seconds after making contact with his skin, but Todoroki did the same with his feet, keeping him in place long enough for Kirishima to cut off the hand stuck to his face. A piercing scream ripped from his throat.

 _Checkmate._

"You," the man stuttered, left hand trembling as his fingers spread over his mouth. "You stupid pests!"

The sheet of ice beneath his feet grew thicker until it completely encased him. Beside me, Todoroki had his right fist raised and covered in rime, and his breath once again came out in puffs of cold air. For the umpteenth time, the ice shattered.

Hands shaking with visible tremors, the man picked up the discarded appendage and carefully reattached it to his face. He inched forward, eyes wide and unhinged, but a heavy gust of wind forced him back a safe distance away.

"Leave my friends alone!"

Deku made a strangled noise as he darted out from the safety of Dark Shadow's wings and towards the mint haired man, all the while scrambling to avoid the debris littering the battlefield from All Might's fight against that _thing_. My breath hitched as the man turned to face him, fingers itching to make contact with skin—

"Dark Shadow, now!"

A sea of black took over my field of vision as Tokoyami called forth his sentient shadow. It grabbed Deku by the shoulders and lifted him high above the ground, barely dodging the hand reaching out for him. Before they could get away, a low, trilling sound goaded my ears, and out of who knows where, the boorish creature previously preoccupied with All Might appeared directly below them with a massive fist reared and ready.

 _I can stop it. I can stop it with_ _ **that**_ …

My heart dropped.

… _but I don't know how._

I didn't have time to process the stew of emotions swirling within me, particularly the shame and frustration that tasted bitter in my mouth. A torrential squall blustered through the dome, but this one felt distinctly more powerful than any attack Deku had ever used before. The trees around us folded in various positions, their roots painfully and entirely extracted from the soil. A sick feeling bubbled in the pit of my stomach as I watched them topple over like a line of dominoes.

Tokoyami and Deku stood in front of me, gasping when they realized All Might had moved them away from the collision course. The ground rumbled as the creature barreled towards our group once more, but with nothing except a strained smile to comfort us, the Symbol of Peace stepped forward to intercept yet another devastating blow.

"Thank you, everyone," All Might said.

His body disappeared and reappeared directly above the monster. The two collapsed in a tangled heap of muscles, squirming to land a punch on the other without getting jabbed first. Each attack resulted in whirlwinds eventually spinning together into one giant hurricane that had the rest of us struggling to stay upright.

Kirishima pitched a hardened fist into the ground. Dark Shadow curled protectively around Tokoyami and Bakugou. My vice grip on Deku probably cut off circulation, but I wasn't even sure when I'd grabbed him in the first place. I couldn't be sure about anything that happened anymore.

"Pull yourself together, Higuchi!"

Looking up into a pair of mismatched eyes, I forced myself to take a sharp breath. I pressed flush against Todoroki and felt his chest rumble with every word, but so much chaos surrounded us that he practically roared and it still sounded like a whisper. Even as I felt the warmth surround me, I could hardly breathe.

My whole life I was trained to have conditioned responses to conditioned stimuli, situations that should've prepared me for this, but _this_ —was something I never could have expected. Now, as everything around me started to crumble, I didn't know what else to do.

"Hey, Villain! Have you ever heard these words?"

I closed my eyes, clinging to the pieces.

" _ **Plus Ultra**_ _!"_

* * *

On my twelfth birthday, I thought about running away from home.

It would've easily been the dumbest thing I'd ever done in my life, but thinking about doing something dumb didn't mean I _was_ dumb, so I hadn't actually gone through with my plan of hitching a ride to the beach and surfing to the nearest country's shoreline. I just stalled for time at a local diner a few blocks down the street from my house two hours after my eight o'clock curfew, and even then I only ordered a cup of lukewarm coffee. I don't even like coffee.

The diner itself embodied mediocracy in every sense of the word. I couldn't believe how an establishment with such inadequate lighting and subpar meals attracted enough customers to drown out the sounds of the city outside, but I was young and spoiled and running away from home. I must have looked just as out of place to whoever cared enough to notice me, sitting in a booth suited for at least four people, stirring the black liquid in front of me with a swish of my finger, and listening to the laughter from the groups seated at the surrounding tables.

It neared midnight when the automatic door slid open to reveal a lanky teen a few years older than myself. He wore a zip-up hoodie and jeans, had short brown hair, and looked thin enough to be considered scrawny if not for his height. Nothing else about him stood out save for his eyes and the way they flitted nervously around the room. I would've assumed he ran away, too, but then those eyes stopped, and even from that distance, I could tell he looked directly at me.

"Sorry, I don't mean to sound like a creep," the boy said, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jacket. "I just saw you through the window and thought you looked a little lost."

"Are you a Hero?" I asked.

"Huh?"

"Is that why you're trying to help me? Because you're a Hero?"

"What? No," he stammered, blushing as he shook his head. "I mean, I'm not a Pro or anything. Do you have to be a Hero to help someone?"

My fingers traced the rim of my mug as I pondered his question. Ever since the public recognized Pro Heroes for their work, not many people, if any at all, bothered interfering with petty crimes and miscellaneous forms of misconduct. The chances of a hoodlum getting away with stealing an old lady's purse increased to unnervingly high statistics, but the chances of said professionals catching him tripled that. No matter the circumstance, Heroes always showed.

 _What happens if they don't make it in time?_

"You're half correct."

"Half?"

"You don't have to be a Hero to help someone, but when you help someone, then you end up becoming a Hero to that person, right?"

"You're pretty insightful for a kid," the boy said, a sharp intake of breath alerting me of his bewilderment. "Do you need, I don't know, saving right now?"

"Like you said, I'm just a kid," I said, shrugging. "I don't have a lot of concerns."

"Kids are allowed to have worries. Maybe not a lot and not often, but that doesn't mean you don't have at least one," he said, shaking his head. "Do you want me to stay with you until your parents get here at least?"

I almost said no, because I only had one parent, and _she's the reason I'm here in the first place_ , but people in the real world didn't say things they mean or mean the things they said.

"I'm fine," I said.

"Mind if I sit anyway?"

"That's what a creep would say."

He just smiled a crooked smile, awkward and quite frankly a little horrified, so I stopped myself from grinning and gestured to the seat across from me. Silence took over for a while until I told him my mother sent a driver to pick me up fifteen minutes before he got there, and it would probably arrive soon.

The boy sighed in relief and didn't say much else, sitting with me until I climbed safely into the car. I said to him _thank you_ and he grinned, looking brighter as he replied with _maybe I'll see you again_. It's been three years since then and I still wish I asked for his name, but I suppose even without it our conversation managed to stay with me until today.

What I said at that time rang true even now. Humans had grown dependent on Heroes and became too complacent in a world that demands action and attention. Every now and then people like that boy come along, someone who just wanted to do something nice and took the initiative to make a connection with others, and those people give the word Hero a meaning worth something to remember.

The League of Villains wanted to kill All Might because they believed a world without the Symbol of Peace would come tumbling down. They didn't count on people like that boy, people like us—me and my classmates and our teachers—to step up despite the fact that someone better and faster and stronger could take care of it instead. Perhaps our society has grown dependent on Heroes, but we'd show them that more than anything, we could depend on each other.

 _"It's fine now! Why? Because I'm here!"_

Because we had the Symbol of Peace within us all.

* * *

 **postscript**

if you haven't read BNHA Illegals, i highly recommend it (*˙︶˙*) *° thanks so much for reading!


	6. Melodrama

No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

—

 **VI. Melodrama**

—

* * *

"Awake?"

My left eye cracked open at the familiar voice, but I laid still for a few seconds, distinctly aware of the lack of noise otherwise. An open door or window somewhere must have allowed the sunlight to filter into the room, and though I never really liked the heat, I wanted to feel the warmth on my skin just a little bit longer.

"How long have I been asleep?" I asked.

I winced as I dropped my legs over the side of the couch, feeling groggier than I expected. The rest of my body tingled like I had jumped headfirst into a television full of static noise, but it looked like I was, or at least will be, physically fine.

"Ten more minutes and it would've been fifteen hours," Kan-oji said, biting back a grin. "If you hadn't been snoring so loudly, I would've thought you were already dead."

"I feel dead."

"You look dead."

"I'll take it," I said, lips twitching. "But I don't snore."

It had been a day since the incident at USJ, and I think I can speak for my entire class when I say it took a lot out of us. The other teachers arrived shortly after All Might sent Nōmu flying out of the stadium and the police arrested a total of seventy-two Villains for their involvement in the attack. Unfortunately, that didn't include Kurogiri or the mint haired man, but both disappeared from the scene long before a search began.

Yūei informed families of the situation immediately after our rescue. Hoards of parents showed up on site to retrieve their children, while Principal Nezu insisted on taking Deku straight to Recovery Girl for immediate treatment. I knew my mother waited for me at home, but she didn't say a word to me until much later in the evening, and even then she only uttered a curt _welcome home_.

Kan-oji checked me out of school on her behalf. Aside from the fact that she didn't want the public to find out she had a daughter attending Yūei, my mother had a mission that would take a couple of days to complete, and neither of them wanted to leave me home by myself while I recovered. I would've protested any other time, mostly to make things at least a little difficult for my mom, but I admit I didn't want to be alone.

"Keep thinking that," Kan-oji snorted, folding the blanket that had slipped from my shoulders. "Get some more rest, alright? Shōta is going to burst an artery if you disrupt his class again."

"Aizawa-sensei is already coming to school?"

"He's a stubborn one."

"Will Deku be cleared today, too?" I asked, frowning. "Uh, I mean, Midoriya Izuku."

"Chiyo-sama has full authority there, but I wouldn't worry about him too much," Kan-oji said, lightly patting my shoulder. "This Midoriya seems like a tough kid."

"He is."

"So are you."

"I don't know about that."

For whatever reason, I felt the shame and frustration that slowly consumed me during the fight fester once more. I tugged at the threads on the couch, keeping my mouth shut for as long as I could handle the silence, but Kan-oji suddenly pulled up a chair. I watched him sit and sigh, hands resting patiently on his knees, and like always, his kindness had a way of urging the words to come out.

"It just happened," I murmured. "He was moving too fast and I wanted him to stop because Ochako was going to die and I was going to die and he was right there, but I felt something and—"

"And?"

"And then he stopped."

Kan-oji stared at me for a while, amber eyes deep in thought. His expression remained passive, apprehensive almost, but a flicker of cognizance pulled his lips into a knowing smile.

"I'm surprised you haven't figured it out yet," Kan-oji said, chuckling at my furrowed brows. "Come on, kiddo, you're supposed to be smart. I'd like to think you got some of that from me," he gave me a pointed look. "Among other things."

And then it hit me.

"Holy shit."

The Blood King laughed.

* * *

For a moment, I humored the thought of ditching class altogether and spending the rest of my day at the unremarkably lackluster diner near my house. Soggy pancakes almost sounded better than standing in the hallway for a few hours or worse yet dealing with an annoyed Aizawa-sensei, but the word _soggy_ was unappealing enough as it was, and for some reason applying it to breakfast foods made it even worse.

No, I didn't ditch class for soggy pancakes from an unremarkably lackluster diner. I was a little preoccupied thinking about the fact that I was capable of manipulating more than just liquid. I could manipulate blood. I could manipulate people. I had an irrational fear of needles and the gods gave me this gift. It didn't make any sense, but in all truthfulness, not a lot did these days.

The first time it happened, I hardly cared about the ethics. Now that I had time to steep my thoughts, I admit the prospect of using such an intimate substance unnerved me. Blood is a vital fluid procured from living organisms, and according to Kan-oji, taking control of it meant taking away something even more innately personal: the freedom to say and do things at their own will.

In a world full of so many colors, it was impossible for everything to be completely black and white. I had no intention of dipping my toes into those waters again, but Kan-oji agreed to train me, and I trusted him more than I did myself. Though _Blood King_ didn't exactly have the same sort of ring to it as _Symbol of Peace_ , I understood his kindness more than anyone else.

"Shut the fuck up, you piece of shit!"

Bakugou was another example of the good guy not always being the nice guy. It almost impressed me how he could still be heard clearly through the closed door despite sitting on the opposite side of the room, but that just proved my point. The fact that he had a seat in a classroom full of aspiring Heroes in the first place spoke volumes and served as a welcome reminder that I wasn't special.

"What are you doing?"

My head lifted at the unfamiliar voice, and knowing everyone I cared about enough to have a conversation with sat inside the classroom, I turned around out of pure courtesy. I noticed a head of blond hair, and for a second I wondered if Bakugou managed to leave without my knowing, but the very _un_ -Bakugou-like fringe squashed that theory in an instant.

I vaguely recognized the gray eyes drilling into mine, and despite my surprise at that revelation alone, it didn't take long for me to remember where I knew them from. Routine visits to Kan-oji's classroom meant inevitably running into some of his students, and that included the boy standing in front of me.

"I was about to head inside," I asked, brow raised. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm on my way to the bathroom," he said cheerily, and in that moment, I realized this sudden interaction wasn't a coincidence, much less a friendly visit.

I matched his expression with the fakest grin I could muster. "Don't let me keep you."

The boy swiveled forward to stand between me and the door. I knew better than to write off anyone attending Yūei as completely harmless, but I didn't expect him to show this sort of hostility, especially without being provoked. His own grin darkened against the fairness of his skin and almost immediately I felt the red flags in my mind go off.

"You must think you're all that," he said, still smiling. "I saw you on the news this morning, you know. An elemental Quirk? That's noble."

Biting my tongue, I pondered the words I wanted to express. I could tell that anything I said at this point would only antagonize him further, but not reacting at all might actually make things worse. He didn't feel like a threat, per se, but his tone held a certain rancor, something angry—

"Class 1-B is part of the Hero Course, too."

 _Bingo._

I watched his reaction and saw a glimpse of my reflection in the detestation fueling his gaze. His animosity grew with every breath we spent on this subject, and if I couldn't find a way out of this confrontation, I had to ease some of the tension.

"Sorry," I said.

"What?"

"Isn't that what you wanted to hear?"

A frown replaced his eerily carefree expression, mask cracking at last. His eyes watched and waited for something I could give him, something that would prompt an actual reason to retaliate, but a strained smile settled back on his face when he found none.

"Of course," he nearly spat. "Let me extend my thanks."

It didn't take much effort for him to reach the crown of my head. He stood at my height, if not slightly shorter. His fingers moved to prod me, but just as I prepared to retaliate, another voice cut in.

"How typical of the Hero Course."

My pupils slid to the corners of my eyes and saw a second unfamiliar face. A few feet away from us stood a taller boy with unruly purple hair and half-lidded eyes, dark circles giving him a fixed expression that reminded me of Aizawa-sensei and his dead fish imitation.

"If you get too carried away here, I'll sweep your feet out from under you at the Sports Festival. It'll be exciting, don't you think?"

"Who are you supposed to be?" asked the blond, his hand reluctantly falling to his side.

It occurred to me suddenly, though much later than I liked to admit, that the stunt he tried to pull probably had to do with his Quirk. I made a note to keep my distance the next time I ran into him, but before I could give it more thought, the blond stilled and stiffened, his already hoary eyes fading into a sickly white. The boy with purple hair didn't say anything, his lips merely curling at the sight.

"You'd think those chosen to be in the Hero Course know better than to fall for simple tricks," he said, looking at me next. "But hey, you seem smart. I don't suppose you have any idea how I did that, do you?"

 _How did he do that?_ _He was standing at least three feet away, no physical contact. I don't know anything about what kind of Quirk it actually is aside from the fact that it keeps the target immobilized, but the only thing that happened between the time he arrived and the time the other boy froze was—_

" _Who are you supposed to be?"_

Only a handful of people in my class had anomalous Quirks, ones I had never seen before or had few variations. Yaoyorozu came to mind first, followed by Ashido and Ochako. People considered elemental based Quirks like mine, Todoroki, and Kaminari's rare, but not impossible to find, while on the other side of the spectrum Quirks like Tsuyu's could be found pretty much everywhere.

This?

Not so much.

The blond looked unresponsive with some capacity for subconscious movement, like his chest rising and falling as he breathed. It had to be some kind of emitter Quirk that manifested as a form of what? Brainwashing? I could hardly believe it even with the proof right in front of me. The irony didn't escape me as Quirks in general started out as an abnormality, but these days it wasn't uncommon to have common traits.

"Did you figure it out already?" he mused.

I opened my mouth to reply and then shut it again with that thought. The purple haired boy raised a brow and folded his arms across his chest, taking note of the realization that must have shown through my steely expression.

"Relax, I don't plan on using it on you," he said, rolling his eyes. "I only did it to him because got on my nerves. Blondie almost used his Quirk on you, too," he paused, smirking again, "But I'm sure you knew that."

A small part of me felt a twinge of guilt for assuming the worst of him in the split-second I pieced together the gist of his powers. Maybe my epiphany with my own Quirk made me feel like I owed him to trust his word, not to mention for saving me from an arguably more uncomfortable predicament. That said, while I deemed him the lesser of two evils, I still didn't want to cross someone with an obvious advantage at the moment.

"I have no business asking you about your Quirk," I said, deliberately glancing at the paralyzed blond. "Or his, for that matter. I'll probably find out at the Sports Festival."

"So you know what it is."

"Who doesn't?"

The Yūei Sports Festival spent the past decade as the most watched annual sporting event in the world. Students from each grade and department competed against one another in hopes of getting scouted for internships and, for the older kids, future jobs. Many considered some exposure better than none, and Hero agencies often rewarded that mindset by extending invitations to potential recruits not based on rank, but overall performance.

"What about him?"

"What _about_ him?"

"Don't suppose you're friends?"

"I don't even know his name," I said, shrugging. "Yours?"

"Shinsō Hitoshi."

"Higuchi Reiko."

"I know," Shinsō snorted. "I watch the news."

The swing in his tone matched the seemingly permanent curl of his lips made even more obvious by the lack of expression in his eyes. He didn't come across quite as aggressively as the blond, but I could tell he meant to taunt me. Despite his assurance and my decision to believe him, I couldn't help but think I should keep my mouth shut just in case.

I gave Shinsō a pointed look as more and more students trickled into the hallway. Most of them just looked like faces passing through, but I recognized a few from Class 1-B approaching a bit too close for comfort. It would've caused more problems than I wanted to deal with if people found out he used his Quirk on another student outside of training.

"You should release him," I said, gesturing to the blond.

Shinsō obliged, but not before rolling his eyes. "Don't worry, I doubt he'll remember what happened."

The blond jolted back to life right on cue, gasping and glancing around in confusion. His mouth dropped open upon seeing us in front of him, but only a squeak managed to leave his throat before a hand grabbed his ear. Shinsō and I looked up without much sympathy to find a strawberry blond behind him, looking rather unimpressed.

"I've been looking everywhere for you," the girl said, tugging on the blond's ear and then turning to give me and Shinsō a sincere smile. "I'm sorry, I hope Monoma wasn't a bother."

"It's fine," I said, offering a small grin in return. "My name is Higuchi Reiko, and this is Shinsō Hitoshi."

"Hi, I'm Kendō Itsuka," she said, letting out a sigh at the boy fidgeting in her grasp. "Are you sure he didn't do anything suspicious?"

"Monoma has been nothing but a gentleman."

"Really?" Kendō asked, brows raised.

"No," Shinsō said, lips twisting into a smirk. "Quite the opposite, actually."

"Look in a mirror," Monoma sneered, trying and failing to swat at the hand still pulling on his ear. "Let me go, Kendō!"

Much to my amusement, Kendō released him without forewarning. Monoma grunted and tripped, arms flailing as he struggled to regain his balance. I bit the inside of my cheek to smother a grin, and beside me, Shinsō barely held back a snort.

"You two are funny," Kendō said, giggling as the blond stomped off without her. "That's my cue to leave, but I hope to see you both around, Shinsō-san, Higuchi-san!"

"No worries," I said, nodding. "I'm sure we'll see you again, Kendō."

It wasn't until they started weaving through other students did I notice just how many people had stopped to watch us. A substantial crowd had gathered around my classroom and I looked around to find at least a dozen pairs of eyes staring right at me.

"Looks like everyone else watched the news this morning, too," Shinsō said, letting out a hum of bemusement.

Some looked at me with admiration. Many seemed curious, if not a bit apprehensive. The majority of them, however, eyed me with various degrees of distaste that I understood but couldn't justify.

"That's her!"

"Heard she got in with recommendations."

"What's she doing with someone from General Education?"

My ears prickled at the last comment, and I glanced at Shinsō from the corner of my eye to catch him staring at our audience with a frown on his face. Before either of us could say anything, I heard a couple of people complain about pushing, and in a matter of seconds the horde surrounding us inched closer and closer until my back hit the classroom door.

I felt my breath hitch uncomfortably at the thought of drowning in a sea of strangers. My hand snaked behind me and tried to reach for the handle, but somehow even more people arrived and started shoving their way forward, each hoping to catch a glimpse of the infamous Class 1-A. In a fleeting moment of clarity, I realized Shinsō had disappeared.

 _This is definitely in the top ten worst ways to die. Number five, probably. Awesome._

The universe must have had enough of my complaining because at that moment the door behind me slid open. My last ditch effort to avoid the throng of people hovering much too close made me push my weight against it, and the sudden absence of a crutch sent me tumbling backwards.

" _Oof!_ "

I could already tell it was her by the voice alone, but the fact that I didn't feel anything upon impact further confirmed it.

"Thanks, Ochako," I said, gratefully accepting the hand she extended towards me. "Nice catch."

"No problem, Rei!"

"Have you been outside this whole time?" Deku asked, looking at the flock outside and back at me in concern. "You left for the bathroom a while ago."

"No. I mean, yes," I pinched the bridge of my nose. "It's a long story, but yeah, I've been out here."

"Did these people give you trouble, Higuchi-san?" Iida frowned, pointing a finger at the students peering into our class. "You there! What business do you have with us?"

None of them answered, but a few students backed away from his demanding expression, others squirming even closer for a better view.

"I don't think they meant cause problems," I said, sighing in growing irritation. "More like—"

"Damn extras scoping out the competition."

The attention shifted to the blond with crimson eyes slowly making his way to the door, one hand gripping the backpack slung over his shoulder and the other tucked into his pocket. Truth be told, Bakugou looked much calmer than I expected, but his entrance made a handful of our classmates groan in exasperation.

"Please stop calling people that just because you don't know their names!" Iida admonished.

"You're one, too—"

"I came to see what all the fuss is about," a newly familiar voice interrupted, and in the midst of the chaos outside, I saw a head of purple moving to the front lines. "But all I found was a bunch of bark with a lot less bite to back it up."

"What the fuck did you say?" Bakugou snapped.

Shinsō raised a brow, his eyes burning quietly with an unconcealed flame. Hoping to stall the inevitable, Ochako, Deku, and Iida waved their arms above their heads in warning, but for once Bakugou's demeanor didn't suggest a ticking bomb.

"You survived the Villain attack, but where would you be if the Pros hadn't shown up?" Shinsō asked, chuckling slightly. "Your classmates sure are amusing, Higuchi."

For someone in General Studies, Shinsō showed quite a bit of interest in our class. His Quirk was impressive, to say the least, but it didn't seem like the type to have an advantage in a flashy spectacle like the Sports Festival. If he aspired to be part of the Hero Course, however, then it made sense that Class 1-A receiving all of this attention struck a nerve for him, too. His way of proving that he deserved to be here as much as we did just happened to manifest into a declaration of war.

"You know him?" Todoroki asked, his eyes reflecting a mix of curiosity and wariness as he moved to stand beside me.

"We've met," I said.

"Students who do well at the Sports Festival have a chance to transfer to the Hero Course," Shinsō said, and though he regarded Todoroki with passive eyes, I could tell he directed his next few words at everyone watching. "And those who don't meet certain expectations can very well transfer out. Remember that before picking any fights you know you can't win."

Footsteps echoed in contrast to the silence of the classroom, and the realization that I didn't have to turn around to recognize the blond didn't startle me as much as I thought it would. Bodies split like water to clear a path for him, and in true Bakugou fashion, he bumped his shoulder against Shinsō on his way out the door.

"None of that matters when you're on top," Bakugou said, crimson eyes gleaming. "Remember that when you're looking up from under me."

The resolve I stifled for most of the conversation flared back to life upon hearing his words. Millions of people considered the Sports Festival a big deal. News stations broadcast it every year across the globe without fail, and the fact that Yūei decided to do so again despite a recent attack on the school proved how much the show needed to go on. In that respect, Shinsō couldn't be more wrong.

It wasn't a stretch to say the League of Villains watched Yūei from the shadows, and our recent altercation with them probably shoved us under a magnifying glass. I had to do well not just for myself, but for my classmates, because everyone watching needed to know that I could stand my ground if anyone else decided to try something again.

"Damn, Bakugou!" I heard a sniffle from a few feet away and turned around to find Kirishima hiding unshed tears behind a closed fist. "How manly!"

Iida shook his head, chastising, "Do not encourage him!"

"Come on, Prez!" Kaminari said, swiping a finger under his eye. "You can't tell me you're not all fired up, too!"

Todoroki made his way to the door, arm barely brushing against mine. The students outside followed his movements, but his gaze swept past them to rest on me, and the silent question came across loud and clear. Lunch just started, which, to my steadily rising horror, meant that I missed about twenty minutes of class during my little 'bathroom break.'

"I'm hungry," I said, making a point not to look behind me. "And honestly, I think Aizawa-sensei might kill me if I stick around."

"Hurry up then," Todoroki said. "If they run out of cold soba, I'm blaming you."

"We'll catch up with you later," Ochako said, a cheesy grin spreading across her face.

Yaoyorozu giggled, patting my shoulder as Jirō and a snickering Ashido trailed after her. I rolled my eyes and gave them a wry smile of my own, grinning a bit more genuinely at Deku when he delivered a sympathetic wave on his way out. I almost forgot about our new friend until he stepped back into my line of sight.

"Hey," Shinsō said, his voice suddenly lowering to a whisper. "Let's keep my Quirk a secret between us, hm?"

In a subtle gesture I almost didn't notice myself, Todoroki stilled, frost ghosting at his fingertips. I opened my mouth to reply—

Shinsō smirked.

* * *

"That's—"

"Brilliant?"

"I was going to use a different word," Todoroki said, looking at me with a deadpan expression.

"I know what I'm doing," I said, shaking my head for the umpteenth time. "I mean, I don't, but that's exactly why I have to do this."

I spent a good chunk of lunch explaining why I came back to class so late, everything from finding out I had the ability to control blood, Monoma cornering me in the hallway, and the conversation Shinsō. Out of all that happened, Todoroki zoned in on the fact that I'd be training with Kan-oji in preparation for the Sports Festival.

"You can barely control water," Todoroki said, twirling the last spoonful of cold soba in his bowl.

"I can control water just fine," I said, slightly miffed at the accusation. "It's things like sensing it in the air or manipulating large amounts that I have trouble with."

"So, everything useful?"

I frowned, stealing a baby tomato from his side plate of salad. "You're funny."

"I don't understand you," Todoroki sighed, shaking his head. "You said yourself this part of your Quirk worries you. Why bother?"

I wasn't sure if it was the sheer intensity behind his words or the way his eyes seemed to dull, but whatever it was, somehow I knew he wasn't just talking about me anymore. The questions I stored in the back of my mind about his elusive Quirk neared a tipping point, ready to overflow at any given moment, and this seemed like enough of a push to do it.

But—

Todoroki Shouto didn't have many friends. I've known him for an infinitesimal amount of time in comparison to the years we spent entirely unaware of each other's existence, but the day before yesterday, we fought together and almost died trying, and today he slurped an entire bowl of cold soba in front of me. Nothing about our relationship was conventional, and that made bouts of normalcy like this something I wanted to protect.

The qualms I had about manipulating blood felt so small in hindsight. I came to terms with the fact that our perception of things didn't decide the truth, nor did it define good or evil, but this further solidified my resolve to do _my_ best. Even Shinsō, despite our brief meeting, taught me that those who became the sort of Heroes we could depend on decided that for themselves.

"I'm more afraid of what could happen if I don't learn how to control it," I admitted, crimson bravely meeting silver and turquoise. "Yūei made me realize what it means to be a Pro, but I can't be a Hero if I don't take responsibility for myself."

Todoroki looked at his now empty bowl, frowning a bit before fixing his gaze on me. I recognized something in his expression that I couldn't place, but the murkiness that enveloped him disappeared the next time I blinked.

"Do what you want," Todoroki said, neatly placing his chopsticks on top of his bowl. "No matter what, I don't intend to lose."

I knew better than to take his words lightly. He wasn't the type to outright threaten someone, not even for the sake of competition, but this didn't feel like a threat at all. None of them did.

 _If you get too carried away here, I'll sweep your feet out from under you_ … _remember that when you're looking up from under me_ … n _o matter what, I don't intend to lose._

It was a declaration of war.

* * *

"What is she doing here?"

The first day of training started off terribly not even ten minutes after Kan-oji arrived for our session. My backyard had ample space for the lessons he planned, and though that alone raised a few flags because he was never one to make "plans" in the first place, the sound of familiar _clicks_ and _clacks_ solidified my growing suspicions.

"She is your mother," Kan-oji said, bringing two fingers to his temples. "And the one condition to your training is that your mother gets to watch."

"That's a dumb condition."

"What did I tell you?"

"'No complaining,'" I grumbled, fighting an urge to roll my eyes. "Please, continue."

"It looks like you're only tapping into these senses under extreme pressure," Kan-oji said. "You're treating blood like some kind of foreign substance when you should be thinking of it as just another kind of liquid."

Kan-oji was right, of course, but despite knowing what I needed to change, I didn't know how to go about doing it. I had enough difficulty comprehending the concept of blood manipulation that the thought of actually putting it into use took a backseat.

"One of your biggest strengths is speed," Kan-oji said, folding his arms across his chest. "Lucky for you, so is mine. Let's start by testing your reaction."

"Oka—"

I dove to the ground literally a split-second before a blood pellet made contact with my skin, gaping in utter betrayal at the fist Kan-oji aimed at my forehead. A flick of his hand transformed the pebble into a net, but the sprinklers turned on earlier that morning, and I used the moisture in the dirt to cut through the web of plasma.

"No water!"

"How do you expect me to—"

He fired another bullet. And another. And another. I managed to dodge with a series of handstands and backflips, but I couldn't retaliate without any liquid to manipulate, and because the courtyard looped in a circle, I had no place to hide as long as Kan-oji stood at the center.

"Stop thinking," Kan-oji said. "This is about feeling!"

"That's the cheesiest—"

"Reiko!"

"Okay! _Okay_ , I'm doing it!"

The four states of matter observable in everyday life included solid, liquid, gas, and plasma. In hindsight, I was capable of manipulating any substance under each of those properties as long as I took control of it in a liquid state, such as water and ice. This was possible because my body recognized liquid the same way it knew to stimulate my sweat glands to prevent overheating or dilate my pupils in the dark.

As such, my Quirk acted less like an extension of myself and more like an inherent part of my physical being. Blood fluid was composed of fifty-five percent plasma, and plasma was ninety-two percent water. Like Kan-oji said, treating it like an oddity probably confused my body because I wouldn't let it sense any properties that felt familiar.

The worst part was knowing it was all in my head. For lack of a better term, I considered it a form of self-sabotage. I thought so much about every little detail that I couldn't clear my mind enough to sort through the overload of information. If I had a way to block out all of my surroundings and focus solely on me, I might be able to get used to the feeling, but—

Kan-oji stopped his barrage some minutes ago, but I didn't notice until I looked up to find him standing further away than before. It hit me suddenly, too suddenly, too easily that I almost laughed.

 _ **I knew she was here for a reason.**_

Taking his place at the center of the courtyard stood a woman so similar yet so much like a stranger to me. Ivory skin smoother than stone, black hair silkier than the satin robe stretching across her figure, crimson eyes sharper than the four inch heels on her feet. Everything about her appeared magnificent and magnified and I felt absolutely mortified.

I craned my neck to find her staring at me with those eyes, and that single glance forced the oxygen out of my lungs. My fingers crawled their way to my throat, twisting as if lacing them together into a little prison could protect it from her clutches, but the outcome never came as a surprise. The Number Three Hero didn't need to break in when she had the power to be anywhere and everywhere all at once.

 _Calm down, Reiko._

The absence of life in this world often made me hyper aware of the vitals within my own body. Nothing existed here besides me, and I didn't know whether to laugh or cry as a result. I only ever saw and felt blackness here because I didn't want to get used to the dark; the perfect place for someone who wanted to _block out all of her surroundings and focus solely on herself_.

 _This world is as much yours as it is mine. If you do not wish to see that, then perhaps this will help open your eyes_.

The perks of having a dimension of your own included controlling everything that happened there. My mother removed all sense of time and place in Shihoshi, an ideal penitentiary that turned captives mad and more mad the longer they breathed its air. I could've been falling for two minutes or two hours. It all felt the same.

My feet finally touched the ground after what seemed like forever. If I stuck my hand out further, however, I would've felt nothing, because there _was_ nothing, but I wasn't interested in the mechanics anymore. I wanted to know why I was here again and why I was here still. I'd never spent longer than a few labored breaths in this world; that was how I measured my stay. How many beats my heart pulsed, how many sighs slipped past my lips, and on my worst days, how many tears I shed.

 _"Though Blood King didn't have the same sort of ring to it as Symbol of Peace, I understood his kindness more than anyone else."_

… _**what are you doing?**_

" _Even Shinsō, despite our brief meeting, taught me that those who became the sort of Heroes we could depend on decided that for themselves."_

 _ **I want to leave.**_

" _Bakugou Katsuki had a temper. Still, he persisted, and that was more than what most people could say about themselves."_

 _ **I…**_

Suddenly, maybe all at once, it made complete sense. I gave myself a hard time for no reason other than being too stubborn to admit that I might be wrong. I had people I could depend on, yes, and I wanted to be strong for those who depended on me, but my priorities failed to include the most significant person in my life.

In denying this world, spurning the possibility of having anything to do with such twisted matter like I'd been idly skirting around the probability of manipulating blood, I kept myself from tapping into my full potential. I had no will, no resolve, not even when I decided I had something to fight for, but in truth an inherent part of who I am included everything I tried so hard to avoid.

Like Kan-oji said, I knew what I had to do, even reminded myself time and time again, but I didn't do anything to change my approach, fearing something I didn't understand without trying to understand it. Kan-oji. Shinsō. Bakugou. People didn't look at them and immediately see a Hero, but they mattered, and they knew they mattered. I had to believe in myself the same way.

This world had no absence of life, no absence of light, because one thing always remained.

Me.

* * *

 **postscript**

finals week has arrived in full force and i can't thank you enough for your patience. the story has received so many kind words since the last update, and just when i think i couldn't be more grateful, here i am! as always, please let me know what you think of this chapter (＊◕ᴗ◕＊) thank you for reading!

* * *

 **Guest: Like you've stated before in earlier chapters, Rei is overthinks things and doesn't do small talk. She seems to get anxious when interacting with people. In the later chapters, she seems to converse with ease, being surprisingly sassy and snippy with Bakugo too, whereas before, she was mortified to have accidentally called him Bakago even when he wasn't there. Is she just more comfortable talking now that she's getting accustomed to her classmates?**

There's actually a snippet in the first chapter that heavily implies the motivation behind a lot of what she says and does:

 _"Three different people with three vastly different personalities. I could've greeted them as cheerfully as Uraraka or maybe dropped into a ninety-degree bow that Iida would've proudly reciprocated, but with the way Midoriya avoided eye contact like everyone around him was Medusa incarnate, such a forward introduction might only fluster him more. Keeping that in mind, I settled for a short nod."_

So, yeah, Rei has a habit of adjusting her personality to match whoever she's interacting with. I wouldn't say she's a people pleaser, per se, but she knows what they like to hear and takes it upon herself to act the way they want her to act. It's just her way of dealing with people, and the difference between her interactions with Ochako and Bakugou are probably the most telling in this respect.

Rei knows Ochako looks up to her and tries her best to be kind and comforting even though _we_ know it takes quite a bit of effort on her part. Rei is snippy with Bakugou because she knows that's the only way he'd give her the time of day. It also wasn't so much that she was embarrassed about accidentally calling him _Bakagou_ than she was about accidentally saying it out loud.

Again, we know these things about her because _we_ get to see the inner workings of her mind, but her peers only see what she wants them to see. Don't get me wrong, though, she's definitely growing more comfortable around her classmates! There'll be a ton of class bonding in the following chapters, especially as we begin to drift a bit further away from canon. Hope you're excited as I am!


	7. Action Reaction

No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

—

 **VII. Action Reaction**

—

* * *

A month had passed since the attack at USJ. I spent most of my time training and catching up on school work, but since we had a curriculum to fulfill, Thirteen-sensei invited us to another rescue workshop shortly after midterms. I told Kan-oji about it during one of our sessions and he chortled humorlessly, shooting a not-so-subtle glance at my mother from across the yard.

"Did Shōta tell you anything else?" Kan-oji asked.

He dodged a punch I aimed at his abdomen and retaliated with a barrage of blood bullets. My hands thrust forward and the garnet stones wavered for a moment before shooting in the opposite direction. Kan-oji mirrored the action, but instead of redirecting the attack, he turned the pebbles into a giant net.

"Aizawa-sensei never tells us anything," I said, slicing through the makeshift web with an ice dagger. "All I know is that Thirteen-sensei was allowed to invite us back ahead of the official reopening because we have a couple of sections in our curriculum left to cover."

I chucked the blade at Kan-oji, but he crushed it easily with his bare hands. Using the remains of the broken shards, I clenched my own hands into fists and caged his in a pair of ice cuffs. Before Kan-oji could escape, I reared my elbow and threw a shadow punch that directed the frozen liquid towards a nearby tree, dragging his body along with it.

"Lucky you," Kan-oji grunted, fumbling to regain his footing after crashing into the trunk. "Rescue training is harder than it looks."

I pitched another ball of liquid at him. Kan-oniji shattered the cuffs trapping him to the tree and promptly ducked. The burst of liquid sharpened into needles with a flick of my wrist, but he swiftly deflected them using a shield of hardened blood.

"It's one of the fundamental aspects of being a Hero," I said, blocking his fist with a crystal buckler of my own. "Besides," I pulled out more liquid out of my flask. "If I can have a conversation and do this at the same time," a pulse of water shot out and slammed him into another tree. "I think I can handle it."

Kan-oji shook himself off and surveyed the damage to the wooden structure behind him. The tree itself remained perfectly intact, but the bark had a few noticeable imprints from his impact.

"Fast as ever," Kan-oji said, throwing me a wolfish grin. "Honestly, I think you're more than capable of moving even faster, but we can work on stamina later."

"Thanks," I said, capping the container attached to my hip. "A friend of mine has an engine Quirk and I'm not really looking forward to him running circles around me."

"Sounds like Ingenium."

"Ingenium?"

"You don't think you're the only one related to Pro Heroes, do you?" Kan-oji asked, trudging back towards the house.

"That's not something I like to think about in general."

Kan-oji clicked his tongue at my biting comment, and I felt worse about putting him on the spot than saying it in the first place. My increasingly snippy remarks in conversations related to my mother had become somewhat of a concern these days, but something about her watching me train with such foreign attention just sets me off.

"I've talked to your mom about it," Kan-oji said, immediately putting me on edge. He and my mother had a mutual respect for each other, but they rarely agreed on things related to me, and his reaction made this look like an exception. "It's about time we amp up your training."

"I may or may not be interested," I said, wiping the soles of my shoes down on the mat in the back porch.

"Since you mentioned the whole rescue training thing," Kan-oji said, holding the door open for me as we stepped inside my house. "All Might came into the staff meeting this morning going on about the importance of teamwork."

"That doesn't sound too bad."

"He wants to disguise himself as a Villain and test your class while you're at USJ."

"Touché," I said, frowning. "What exactly does that have to do with my personal training?"

"All Might and Eraserhead seem to think you already have a decent grasp of the concept," my mother answered instead, quietly stepping into the room. "I've prepared another suit to keep your classmates from recognizing you when you assist All Might with his plan."

"Literally all of them will figure it out the second they're hit with a drop of water," I said, kicking off my sneakers. I ignored the disapproving stare my mother gave me, but thought better of it and reluctantly straightened them along the shoe rack.

"Then it's a good thing you're not using water," Kan-oji said, chuckling like a true sadist when I stopped to gape at him. "What? Don't think you can handle it?"

"It's not me I'm worried about."

"All Might will make sure nothing happens to you or your friends," Kan-oji said, ruffling my hair in assurance. "Well, nothing you can sue the school over at least."

"That makes me feel so much better," I mumbled, swatting his hand away.

Our resolve after facing the League of Villains together strengthened immensely, but I knew my classmates still harbored a lot of ill feelings about the ordeal itself, and those emotions motivated them to try even harder during training. I was afraid that All Might pulling a stunt like this might push some of them too far, too soon, and more than that, I was worried that I wouldn't know what to do if or when it happened.

"The new costume is in your room," my mother said, taking a moment to brush stray pieces of hair away from my eyes. "I hope it fits, Reiko."

It was the way she spoke with a certain finality in her tone, one that I recognized all too well, that made me shut my mouth, exhaling only when the noise from her heels faded into ghostly taps against our hardwood floors. Words like that often sounded innocent to those who didn't know her, but my mother merely transcended traditional threats. Kan-oji sighed and patted my head, softer this time as if offering some semblance of comfort.

"She'll come around," Kan-oji murmured.

As much as I wanted to, I couldn't find it in me to believe him.

* * *

Rescue training started out in full swing, but as expected of all things that involve our class, it didn't come without a few hiccups. Thirteen-sensei assigned us the role of injured civilians stuck at the bottom of a chasm with a hundred foot drop. Deku pretended to be passed out, I had a fake injured leg, and Bakugou did a terrible job at looking remotely worried.

"Why the fuck am I always stuck with you two?"

"Maybe if you didn't scream, 'pair me up with anyone except Deku and Guppy,' Aizawa-sensei wouldn't have paired you up with Deku and," I rolled my eyes. "Me."

I noticed Deku shudder from the corner of my eye, though I wasn't sure if it had to do with our less than favored location, or nerves from spending an indefinite amount of time in an enclosed space with the blond.

"Why the fuck are you twitching so much?" Bakugou muttered, prodding him with his foot.

I didn't bother holding back my snort. "That kind of sounds like concern."

"You wanna fuckin' go, Guppy?"

"None of those words came out of my mouth."

"K-Kacchan, Rei," Deku stammered, hesitantly beckoning me over. "I think Yaoyorozu-san is trying to tell us something."

The faint call of our names resounded from the top of the cliff. I spotted a speck of black and red leaning over the ledge as the girl in question cupped her hands around her mouth, proclaiming words of comfort in an attempt to keep us calm.

"We're on our way down to you now!"

"Thank you, Yaoyorozu-san!" Deku exclaimed.

"Aren't you supposed to be unconscious?" I teased, stretching out my 'bad' leg. He gasped, flustered, and I let my grin ease into a reassuring smile. "Relax, Deku, it's not the end of the world. Maybe we can just knock out Bakugou."

"Just fuckin' try," the blond snarled.

"Hey, guys!"

My eyes darted above us to find Ochako and Todoroki slowly lowering themselves down with Sero's white tape. The brunette smiled brightly, but her partner appeared indifferent as ever.

"Took 'em long enough," Bakugou scoffed.

I quirked a brow, frowning. "We've been waiting for five minutes."

"It's okay now, Deku-kun!" Ochako said proudly, pumping a fist into the air. "I'm here!"

Deku blushed a vibrant shade of red. Todoroki carefully wrapped him in the tape and secured his equally flushed neck before Ochako tapped her fingers against his forehead. The smaller of the two let out a yelp as the zero gravity took effect, floating him higher and higher until he reached Sero and Yaoyorozu at the surface.

"Now, Uraraka-san!"

"Release!"

Sero caught Deku and gently lowered him to the ground. As soon as the latter settled down, Yaoyorozu gave Todoroki and Ochako a thumbs up, signaling the all clear to carry out the rest of the mission.

Todoroki knelt down beside me, his right hand hovering over my supposedly injured leg. I felt some of the familiar warmth I had grown accustomed to associating with him, but a chill emitted from his fingers, and within seconds a thin sheet of frost blanketed my calf.

"Cold?" Todoroki asked.

I feigned a wince, earning a frown. "I think I'll survive."

"It'll take more than that to keep her down, Todoroki-kun," Ochako grinned, looping a strip of tape around my waist. "Ready to head on up?"

From above, Sero lowered a stretcher attached to a makeshift pulley, both courtesy of Yaoyorozu. I caught a glimpse of green peering over the edge of the cliff and bit back a small smile when it suddenly disappeared, as if remembering he had his own role to play.

"In all seriousness, I don't need that," I said, referring to the cot.

Todoroki shrugged, tugging on the straps on the contraption. "It's not meant for you."

A few seconds of confused silence filled the gorge when all of a sudden the blond standing behind me let out an incredulous yell.

"No way in hell am I getting on that thing!" Bakugou said, defiantly crossing his arms across his chest.

Ochako bravely grabbed his arm. "It's part of training!"

"Does it look like I care?" Bakugou snapped, his eye practically twitching as he glowered at the brunette. "Just stick Guppy on it!"

"We only have one stretcher available," Todoroki said, ignoring the crimson glare redirected at him. "Between the civilian with a broken leg and the civilian knocked unconscious, we have to prioritize the latter."

"Do I look unconscious to you, shithead?!"

Before Bakugou could bust an artery or worse yet bust one of ours, a sudden gust of wind swept through the canyon. Our peers on the surface didn't notice the disruption, but it knocked us back enough that I knew at least Bakugou and Tododorki considered it a threat.

"What the fuck was that?" Bakugou asked, his gauntlets lighting up.

I placed a hand over my leg and turned the ice Todoroki provided for me into a crystal sword. It became quickly apparent that the show was about to start, and I knew just as well that I had to act the part.

"Don't," I warned, eyeing the blond with genuine concern. "If you set off an explosion down here, it might cause the whole thing to cave in."

Bakugou frowned at me, but to my relief, the bracers around his wrists dimmed significantly. Todoroki stood beside him with narrowed eyes, a patch of rime already forming beneath his right foot.

"How do we get out of here?" Ochako asked, looking around in carefully curbed panic. "Should I use my Quirk on us?"

"I'd rather have Yaoyorozu and Sero pull us up first," I said, looking at the surface. "It'll be harder to maneuver ourselves in free space if something attacks us directly."

Ochako squeaked. "If something attacks us directly?"

"It's just a precaution," Todoroki assured her.

"Bakugou, fly up there and let the teachers know what happened," I instructed, stifling any hesitation. "We'll cover you in case something is down here."

I doubted All Might would allow an actual fight break out down here, but in the event that it did, I'd rather have Aizawa-sensei and Thirteen-sensei aware of the situation. Bakugou probably came to the same conclusion, opting not to argue and shot up without another word. It wasn't long after that did we hear Yaoyorozu call out to us again.

"Grab on!"

As Sero extended another line of tape, I spared a glance at Ochako and buried the guilt slowly creeping into my system. Her face scrunched together as Todoroki and I grabbed onto each of her hands, concentration barely masking her concern. My body turned featherlight instantly, but before we could get too far, a stronger gust of wind burst through the chasm and slammed us into the rocks.

Todoroki managed to soften our landing with a cocoon of ice, but it shattered upon impact, leaving us hanging and extremely susceptible for another attack. Uncapping my flask, I extracted some water, propelling us to the top with a makeshift geyser. As soon as Ochako muttered, "Release!" Todoroki and I fell to the ground with an unceremonious thump.

"There is definitely something down there!" Ochako exclaimed, scrambling to her feet.

"How unfortunate," Aizawa-sensei said, looking over at me with the bare minimum of false concern. I bit my cheek to smother a snort. "Thirteen and I aren't in any condition to fight."

"Everyone to the exits!" Thirteen-sensei gasped dramatically.

I wasn't sure what happened next, but in hindsight, it wasn't anything I could've prepared for. I just remember seeing a shadow and feeling the presence of another body behind me—

"Higuchi," Todoroki said, slowly inching forward. "Move."

And then I saw black.

* * *

I woke up on a pile of rubble somewhere in the ruins zone. As I sat up against the wall, All Might breathed a sigh of relief. He wore a black suit similar to the one my mother gave me for this assignment, and the sight of him made me wonder why I ended up here in the first place.

"What happened?" I asked, still sluggish.

All Might guffawed, his laugh bellowing through the halls of the rundown building. "I may or may not have accidentally sedated you!"

" _What?_ "

"It was only supposed to make you drowsy!" All Might cried, abruptly falling to his knees. "I sincerely apologize, Young Higuchi!"

I sat there bewildered for a second before taking note of the backpack slung over his shoulder. All Might noticed my staring and quickly handed it to me, which I clumsily accepted with an attempt at a reassuring smile.

"It's alright, sensei," I said, unzipping the bag and pulling out my new costume. It was a black bodysuit with a matching helmet to cover my face, but plain as it looked, I knew it cost an arm and a leg. "You go on ahead and distract the others. I'll catch up soon."

All Might beamed, teeth flashing even in the darkness of the room. He stood to his full height, completely towering over me, and struck a pose with his hands on his hips.

"Thank you for your help, Young Higuchi!" All Might said, promptly launching into the sky.

I stared at the gaping hole he left behind, taking a moment to sigh at the sheer bizarreness of the situation. The Symbol of Peace accidentally drugged and kidnapped me, and in just a few minutes, I'd be helping him fight my classmates in an effort to teach them a lesson about teamwork. I couldn't fathom how All Might managed to convince Aizawa-sensei to agree to this, much less play along.

After changing into my new outfit, I tied my hair up into a high ponytail and stuffed my Hero costume into the bag, chucking it into a random corner. As I adjusted the mask over my face, mentally reminding myself to come back for it once training ended, I heard an explosion from outside of the building.

I booked it to the battlefield without a second thought. All Might stood at the center clear of any obstacles while my classmates covered the perimeter, surrounding the pseudo-Villain with varying expressions of determination and unfiltered anger. To say the ruins had turned into a disaster zone would be an understatement.

"Where is Rei?" Ochako demanded.

"Nice try, little girl," All Might said, chuckling. "You'll have to defeat us to find out!"

His fist punched through the ground, causing a massive fissure that sent boulders soaring in every direction. I held onto a nearby pillar to keep my balance, watching and waiting to see what my classmates would do next. Despite the fact that he wouldn't bring them actual harm, they still had to go up against the most powerful man in the world.

"What's he playing at?" Kirishima asked, punching through stones with a hardened fist.

Ojiro leapt forward, slamming his tail against the pieces of rubble. "Wait, did he say 'us'?"

"There's someone else here," Shōji confirmed, the tips of his many limbs transforming into numerous eyes, ears, and a single nose. "A hundred meters to the left!"

"Got you."

 _Shit._

I ducked just in time to avoid an extremely accurate kick to my face. Bakugou fired a blast behind his back, giving him enough momentum to flip over onto my other side. Resisting the urge to take control of the perspiration clinging to his palms, I focused on the blood that flowed in his veins instead, forcing him to hit the ground with a wave of my arm.

From my peripheral, I saw Tokoyami standing a bit further away with Dark Shadow streaking towards me. Bakugou pushed himself up and prepared another attack, but before he could ignite the explosion, I froze his sweat.

"What the fuck?" Bakugou snarled.

He attempted to fire another explosion, and this time I let him. It resulted in a deafening _boom_ that rocketed through the stadium, and though I managed to jump a safe distance away, Dark Shadow stood close enough to be immobilized by the light of the fireworks.

"They're not your only opponents!" Ashido exclaimed.

A string of the poisonous substance shot towards me, but I redirected it with a twirl of my arm. It would've sent her hurtling to the side if not for Iida swooping in to catch her.

"Caught!" Hagakure squealed from somewhere to my right.

I wasn't sure what she did, nor did I notice the tape circling my ankles, until I toppled to the floor. Sero pulled my weight towards him, literally dragging me through the dirt as Tsuyu and Kouda helped with the haul.

"She isn't your only opponent either!"

All Might appeared in front of us, ripping the tape binding my legs and creating another hurricane. As the majority of my classmates flew back a few spaces, I scurried to my feet to dodge an incoming bolt of lightning from Kaminari, but fell to my knees once again after getting hit by a piercing sound wave from Jirō.

Mustering all of the willpower I had, I extended an arm out and unplugged her extrapolated earlobes from the speakers on her boots. Behind her, Aoyama directed a dazzling beam of light at me, but All Might quickly pulled me out of the way, only to throw me into a hand to hand match against Yaoyorozu and her bo staff.

As she brought it down over my head, I raised my arms and grabbed the metal with both hands, ducking down just enough to sweep her off her feet. Knowing fully well she needed mere seconds to produce more weapons, I tried to keep her busy with another clumsy kick, but my feet literally froze.

Todoroki didn't even bat an eye at me, instead pinning his gaze on All Might. Despite dealing with a number of my classmates at the same, the Pro Hero in disguise hardly broke a sweat, sending all but two flying for the umpteenth time. Todoroki and Bakugou came at him from opposite directions, one zooming on ice and the other gliding through the air.

"We're doing this for you."

Yaoyorozu strode to my side, pointing her staff at me in a way that appeared cautious and calculated, but didn't really have much intention otherwise. Her eyes spent a few seconds on the fight before us and I held back a gasp when they suddenly met mine.

"Well done, Higuchi-san," Yaoyorozu said.

I couldn't begin to describe how I felt the moment I fully comprehended what she said to me. I felt equal parts surprised and unsurprised, but more than that, I couldn't help the grin stretching across my face.

"You are _so_ brilliant, Yaoyorozu."

"I can't wait to hear what this is about," she chuckled, making sure to keep her voice quiet. "It must be something pretty special if both you and Aizawa-sensei agreed to take part in it."

The arena convulsed with yet another tremor, interrupting our conversation. Bakugou managed to land a direct hit that sent All Might barreling into a massive, and I mean absolutely _massive_ spiral of ice, dwarfing even the tallest building in the area. Yaoyorozu stood in shock beside me, her grip on the staff in her hands slackening.

"Incredible," I murmured.

As the smoke from the explosions cleared, I saw All Might's figure stuck to the gargantuan slab of ice courtesy of Mineta's Quirk. Deku stood at the center of the open field cradling his right index finger, and coupled with the impact of Bakugou's last explosion, I could only guess what caused all of the damage.

The blond towered over the incapacitated pseudo-Villain next to a visibly tense Todoroki, whose breath once again came out in condensed huffs. Bakugou grinned wickedly, lifting a fully loaded fist.

"Here's the final blow, shitface!"

In an effort to keep from getting blown to bits by his own student, All Might furiously shook his head. His mask wriggled slightly before completely slipping off to reveal his signature white smile, much to the mixed confusion and amazement from the majority of people observing the scene. Across the field, I noticed Aizawa-sensei and Thirteen-sensei hanging their heads in exasperation and embarrassment and struggled not to do the same.

"That's right! It's me!" All Might cheered. "I just wanted to surprise you!"

I couldn't see their expressions, but based on the strained grin on the Hero's face, I assumed Bakugou and Todoroki didn't look any friendlier than my other classmates. Kaminari and Jirō scowled, Kirishima and Sero shook their heads in disbelief, and Ochako slapped a dense fist against her open palm.

"What kind of fucking surprise was that?" Bakugou roared.

Kirishima groaned. "People could've actually gotten hurt!"

"This was seriously too much!" Kaminari shouted.

The three boys brazenly threw themselves at the Symbol of Peace and the subsequent pile grew bigger and bigger until most of our class had their turn showing our beloved teacher a piece of their mind. A few feet away stood Iida wagging a disapproving finger, his glasses fogging up due to the steam emitted from his quickly reddening cheeks.

"Midoriya-kun injured his finger!" Iida chastised, gesturing to the chuckling boy sat on the ground beside him.

Ochako bobbed her head, scowling deeply and in all truthfulness, quite frighteningly. "You haven't even told us where Rei went!"

At the mention of my name, Yaoyorozu let out a euphonious giggle. Her staff fell to the ground with a grating _clang_ , catching the attention of our peers. As she linked her arms through mine, a radiant smile graced her features, and I took that as my cue to lift the mask over my head.

"What the fuck?" Bakugou blurted out.

Deku gasped, a hint of laughter in his voice that made me smile despite my growing embarrassment. "You were a fake Villain the whole time, Rei?"

"And quite the actress, too," I mused, unfreezing the block of ice at my feet with a flick of my wrist. "To be honest, though, I never expected to get knocked out by the Symbol of Peace."

Ochako whirled around to face All Might once again.

" _You knocked her out?_ "

As the others continued to berate the Pro Hero, Todoroki slipped away from the assembly gathered at the front to make his way over to me and Yaoyorozu. His eyes clouded over with a storm of carefully concealed emotions, but it seemed to disperse as his gaze drifted to the crown of my head.

"Are you going to tell us what all of this was about?" Todoroki asked, frowning.

I shrugged, tugging on the flimsy band just barely keeping my unruly waves together. "I thought it might help me get into character."

"That's not what I—"

"I'm sure it'll be a funny story, don't you think?" Yaoyorozu said, her eyes twinkling as she laughed.

"You know what's funny?" I asked, feeling dizzy all of a sudden. The exhaustion I felt during the fight seemed to hit me all at once. "I think I'm about to—"

* * *

"How many times did you try manipulating blood?"

"Twice."

"Better than the first time," Kan-oji said, grinning. "And by 'better' I mean 'pretty good.' One of them was a moving target, right?"

The two of us sat in the school infirmary, me on a bed and him on a chair beside it. A little less than an hour had passed since our rescue training ended and All Might had gotten more than an earful from Recovery Girl for allowing two of his students to get hurt on his watch. Aizawa-sensei, Thirteen-sensei, and even Kan-oji himself received a bit of a lecture as well, but for the most part, everything worked out alright.

"I didn't really move him so much as I just let him fall to the ground," I said, thinking back to the seething blond.

Kan-oji snorted, folding his arms across his chest. "Not sure if that's you being modest or you trying to get out of training."

As I rolled my eyes, the person on the bed next to me cleared his throat. Deku blinked up at Kan-oji with big green eyes. A flurry of metaphorical sparkles surrounded him and I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing at how awestruck he looked.

"The Blood King," Deku whispered, stuttering in unconcealed excitement. "I mean, uh, sir! You must be the one who taught Rei how to do all of those moves!"

"What do we do now that the secret's out, kid?" Kan-oji asked, lifting a hand to his chin.

"It was never a secret," I said, leaning against the headboard. "Deku is just a big fan."

Recovery Girl walked in at that moment with a pill in each hand. Pain relievers, she told us. I accepted it from her graciously as Deku did the same, simultaneously swallowing it in a single gulp. As soon as we finished, she beckoned at the door, and Ochako and Iida came bounding in first.

The two flanked Deku with matching expressions of concern, but I didn't blame them. He ended up with a broken finger while I somehow got away with just a case of over-exhaustion. Recovery Girl didn't even need to use her Quirk on me since I woke up shortly after fainting, and that said a lot considering I didn't have the best stamina.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" Ochako said, smiling as she plopped down at the foot of my bed.

"As are we."

Yaoyorozu stepped inside with two neatly wrapped boxes of bento, Todoroki entering just after her. As their arrival filled up the room, Recovery Girl motioned for Kan-oji to exit with her, and he gave me a salute on his way out. I mimicked the gesture, grinning at him briefly before turning my attention to my friends.

"For you, Midoriya-san," Yaoyorozu said, handing him a container. "And for you, Higuchi-san. I hope it's to your liking."

I pulled back the lid to find that I held a steaming bowl of spicy ramen. To my right, Deku gaped at a plate of katsudon, which I recognized as his favorite food.

"Thank you so much, Yaoyorozu-san!" Deku exclaimed.

"Thanks, Yaoyorozu," I echoed, smiling at the black haired girl standing on my other side. "I really appreciate it."

"It was my pleasure," Yaoyorozu said, beaming. "I can't take all of the credit, though. Todoroki-san suggested the idea in the first place."

I looked up at the boy in front of me with curious eyes and found them matched by his own stare. Part of me wondered why he bothered with something so trivial, but I felt such overwhelming gratitude, both for the meal and the reminder that he and the rest of my friends fought hard to protect me and each other, that I didn't feel the need to find out.

"I won't hold back next time," Todoroki said.

I stared at him dubiously. "You call that giant glacier 'holding back'?"

"Yes," Todoroki muttered, turning his cheek with a silent huff. "Don't do it again."

My mouth curved into an inconspicuous smile while Yaoyorozu and Ochako giggled beside me. Iida turned to look at us with an inquisitive gaze, but I could tell Deku had trouble hiding his grin, and I wondered for a moment if we had just witnessed an embarrassed Todoroki for the first time ever. The thought of it alone made me chuckle, drawing the attention of the boy in question.

"What?"

"Nothing," I said.

And with that, the weeks leading up to the Sports Festival dwindled down to one.

* * *

 **postscript**

i just wanted to take this time to sincerely thank everyone who has continued to support this story and its characters and me. as always, thank you for reading! i hope everyone has a healthy and happy new year filled with laughter and love.

(❁´ω`❁)


	8. Stick Figure

No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

—

 **VIII. Stick Figure**

—

* * *

Despite my general fear of human interaction, I could admit I wasn't that bad at it. Though at times I felt uncomfortable or perhaps a little embarrassed, I prided myself in my empathy and the effort I put into understanding other people. I owed that much to my father regardless of how short a time I spent with him, which, in all truthfulness, made me more curious than sad these days. Did that mean I was a good person because of him or was it because he was gone that I felt the need to be better?

The capacity to understand and share another person's emotions came easier to some more than others, but in this climate, people considered selfishness a vice that turns even the most compassionate people into soulless zombies on occasion. We refuse to acknowledge it, refuse to believe that we could be so self-serving, and yet the evidence is stitched so intricately in how we live our lives that denying it only proves the level of culpability.

In Greek mythology, Heracles was the son of Zeus, a God, and Alcmene, a mortal. Despite his lineage, he became a Hero not through birthright, but through enduring a lifetime of suffering and achieving the impossible in spite of all odds. The concept has since shifted in tune with the emergence of Quirks, and in this day and age we have become especially naïve in equating Heroism with celebrity.

Humans regarded the Symbol of Peace the closest thing to God and at the same time treated others lesser than when they failed to exhibit equally extraordinary powers. It comes as no surprise that children across the globe grow up dreaming of becoming Heroes with the flashiest Quirk. Living in a superhuman society simply conditions us to believe that we're either born a Hero, or we're just born.

The quest for fame comes hand in hand with an insatiable greed for fortune. As such, money became a main motivation for people trying so adamantly to get a job in Heroics. The government remunerated Pro Heroes for their efforts, and in addition to endorsements and sponsorships, even the most obscure rookies made significantly more than the average blue and white collar workers.

I experienced that firsthand. I had the privilege of sleeping in my own bed, living in a big house, attending a prestigious academy without having to worry about whether or not I could afford to survive. My mother had enough saved from her years working as a Pro Hero to retire today and still live comfortably for the rest of her life. I understood perfectly why people romanticized this sort of lifestyle.

In hindsight, it wasn't necessarily a bad thing. I had my own motivations, and judging people for theirs didn't make me a better person. Why should I care if Heroes risked their lives for the fame and fortune if it meant the city was safe and sound? Heroes saved lives all the time, and that was all that mattered.

But _was_ that all that mattered?

I was guilty of being disillusioned by the grandeur myself. The reason I agreed to enroll at Yūei in the first place was because I didn't want to convince my mom otherwise, but I grew up thinking that I had to be a Pro in order to be of any use to the world, and I suppose part of me wanted to have a purpose.

The incident with the League of Villains, among other things, proved that notion incorrect. It wasn't that I was important because I had these powers, but that these powers became important because I used them to protect the people I care about. If I used them to do the opposite, to hurt someone, innocent or not, with the intention of inflicting pain purely out of spite, I would be the furthest from a Hero I could possibly get.

The Sports Festival made a show out of students displaying their skills, but in reality it weeded out the average and pushed those with the most potential even closer to the top. Shinsō was one of the unlucky ones with a Quirk predetermined to be lesser than those like Todoroki or Bakugou's, because it wasn't flashy enough, because it wasn't deemed good enough, and yet he wanted it to be enough, and that shouldn't be taken lightly.

At the end of the day, Pro Hero was just a title. First and foremost, I was human, and if I let things like wealth and recognition and fear define me, if I treated others differently or worse because I care more about being better than them instead of becoming my best self, then I would be stripping the integrity out of the métier. This was my chance to prove myself, the first time since as far back as I can remember that I decided to do something because I wanted to do it.

My last day of training with Kan-oji ended up more like an overdue therapy session. I told him about how I felt and why I hoped to win and why I wanted to become a Pro. I said a lot of maybes and I don't knows, but I cared enough to try, and because I cared, I owed it to a lot of people to do my best. More than anything, I wanted to do it for all the right reasons, and for the right person.

Myself.

* * *

In the few months I spent at Yūei, I liked to think I changed quite a bit. Not including an ambush by a criminal syndicate and an undercover operation I never asked to take part of, the Sports Festival would be my first real test, at least, the first I decided to participate in all on my own.

"How do you feel?" Kan-oji asked, sitting down on a bench in my backyard patio.

"Like I'm dying inside," I said, shrugging at his arched brow. "In hindsight, I feel a lot less anxious than I expected. I'm probably at a nine right now when I thought I'd be somewhere in the twenties."

"What is this scale out of?"

"Like, five."

"Max?"

"Yeah," I said, unceremoniously plopping down beside him. "I'm actually kind of freaking out."

Based on clips from previous Sports Festivals, I expected to participate in at least three events, starting with a preliminary elimination round. Between the three departments, there would easily be a hundred or so students participating, meaning it had to be something that could quickly whittle down our numbers before the main event. Every single year without fail, said event turned out to be a one-on-one battle tournament, and all things considered, I probably felt most anxious about that.

It wasn't like I didn't have practice sparring with people from my class, but All Might and Aizawa-sensei monitored our training at all times. In a way, I suppose our performance will still be monitored by watchful eyes, except two pairs suddenly turned into a two million, and that's only taking into account viewers from Japan. The Sports Festival was a national event that reached an international audience, and that, along with the attention our class received from USJ, made the stakes significantly higher.

"You've got this, kid," Kan-oji said, ruffling my hair. "Don't hold back on my students, alright? I doubt they'll make things easy for you and your class."

"That's comforting," I deadpanned.

"Isn't it?"

The sudden reminder that I might have to face off against Monoma made my nose scrunch up, mostly at the thought of his vendetta against me and my classmates, but also because I would never allow myself to lose against him despite his connection to someone I considered family.

"Did something happen?" Kan-oji asked, looking at me strangely.

"What do you mean?"

"You looked annoyed all of a sudden."

I frowned, indignant. "Maybe that's just my face."

"Sure," Kan-oji snorted, canines sparkling. "Who was it? Tetsutetsu? Monoma?" I winced, and he laughed. "Yeah, I wouldn't let my guard down around him."

"Noted," I said, rolling my eyes as I recalled my encounter with the blond. "Your class is definitely something."

"Didn't you fight a syndicate of Villains in the first week of school?"

"… Touché."

"Since we're on the subject, I'd keep an eye out for the Support kids," Kan-oji said. "Their gadgets are pretty impressive."

The Department of Support focused on developing support equipment that help Pro Heroes out on the battlefield. Bakugou's grenadier bracers, for example, made his attacks stronger by storing larger amounts of his sweat at a time. To prevent unfair disadvantages, the Sports Festival implemented a strict no equipment policy, but those from Support can use anything they built themselves so long as it was done by hand and without outside help.

"What about the Department of General Education?" I asked, unable to smother my curiosity. "I heard that if a student does well, it's possible for them to transfer into the Hero Course."

"Possible, but rare," Kan-oji said, lifting a hand to his chin. "In all the years I've been teaching, I've never actually had someone transfer into my class."

"Interesting," I said, drumming my fingertips against the porch railing. "If it did happen, though, does that mean a student from the Hero class has to be transferred out?"

"The entrance exam is designed to prevent that from happening," Kan-oji said, shaking his head. "A student would have to willingly drop out or fail to earn a spot in the Hero Course at all. It goes without saying that those who managed to make it this far into the semester deserved to be there."

"Is that why the entrance exam is catered to people with Quirks that are traditionally considered more powerful?"

"Where did you hear that?"

"Around."

"Do you know someone from the General department trying to transfer into the Hero Course?" Kan-oji asked, brows furrowed.

I considered denying it, but I figured no harm, no foul. "Yeah, I ran into him the same day I met Monoma."

"What's his Quirk?"

"Mind control."

"Wow."

"Right?"

"Good luck with that one, kid," Kan-oji snickered, standing from his seat. "Come on, I'm starving."

The fact that he failed to answer my question about the entrance exams didn't escape me. Kan-oji never hid things from me for no reason, and I didn't feel the need to push him because of that, but this just seemed like one of those cases where denying the accusation proved it to be true.

I shoved the thought to the back of my mind as we entered the kitchen, switching my attention to a stockpot of spicy ramen on the stove. Kan-oji spent the whole afternoon outside with me, and the realization that only one other person in this house could have made it stopped me in my tracks.

"It's your favorite," Kan-oji said, lifting the lid off the pot.

I glanced at the table, biting the inside of my cheek. "There are only two place settings."

"Your mom got called in for an attempted robbery."

"They called in the Number Three Hero for an attempted robbery?"

"Let me rephrase that," Kan-oji smirked, grabbing a ladle to fill our bowls. "Attempted robbery at the Imperial Palace."

I made a noise of acknowledgement and plopped down, fixing my gaze on the perfectly cut noodles. The last time I tasted my mother's cooking, I was about to graduate from sixth grade. I felt particularly anxious about attending a new school. Mom made pork cutlet with curry and rice because I mentioned earlier that week that I'd been craving it. I appreciated the fact that she took the time to cook, but more than that, it meant a lot that she remembered.

"I doubt she'll be gone for long," Kan-oji said, taking a seat across from me. "Do you want to wait for her?"

I thought back to that day, how I excited felt about actually having a meal with my mom that I refused an invitation to a commencement party. It didn't occur to me that she might've been called in like she was today, and so I waited and waited and waited before finally accepting she didn't plan to show up for dinner.

When I turned on the news the next morning, I saw her face again for what felt like the first time in weeks. A massive fire broke out in the city, and the sheer number of civilian casualties meant that first responders couldn't bring them all to safety without compromising the fire itself. My mother's Quirk solved that problem almost too easily.

The news anchor reported that the conflagration blazed for nearly half a day and likely wouldn't be put out for another few hours. My graduation was in three. Needless to say, my mother didn't show up to that either, but I learned enough from dinner to save myself from the brunt of the disappointment.

"No," I decided after a moment, picking up my chopsticks.

Society idolized Pro Heroes because they always showed up whenever and wherever people needed them. I knew firsthand that wasn't always the case.

* * *

Twenty minutes after lunch, I found myself roaming around a supermarket down the street from my house. Kan-oji needed to buy some dog food before heading out and I decided to tag along since I didn't have much to do at home in the first place. It was surprisingly empty for a Saturday afternoon, but I suppose people had better things to on the weekend than stocking up on groceries.

Lost in thought, I turned a corner and bumped into someone. The impact made me wince, but when I looked up I saw a young woman no more than a few years older than me sprawled out on the floor. Her basket tipped over, spilling two packs of buckwheat noodles and a bottle of soy sauce. I hurriedly picked the items up and offered her my free hand.

"I'm sorry," I said, frowning slightly. "Are you alright?"

The woman clumsily adjusted the silver glasses perched on her nose. As she re-filled her basket, I took a moment to really look at her, noticing certain aspects of her physical features that felt oddly familiar. Red streaks highlighted her snowy white hair, and though her steel gray eyes seemed to sparkle a bit brighter than the silver I had in my mind, I couldn't deny the uncanny resemblance to a certain boy I knew.

"I'm fine, but I should really be the one apologizing," she said, clutching the basket handle with both hands. "I wasn't looking where I was going and—"

"Higuchi?"

In a strange twist of fate, I looked up and found Todoroki standing a few feet away from us wearing a plain navy tee and a pair of black jeans. I had never run into him outside of school before today, and seeing him in such casual clothes almost felt foreign enough that I forgot why I was even there.

"Hi," I said.

Todoroki nodded. "Hello."

"Do you two know each other?" the woman asked.

"We're friends," I said, blinking as Todoroki moved to stand beside her. "My name is Reiko."

"Reiko? Higuchi Reiko?" she asked, and I could almost see the bulb light up atop her head when I nodded. "Ah! I'm Fuyumi, Shouto's sister!"

"Nice to meet you," I said, smiling in slight surprise. I had my suspicions, of course, but the immediate confirmation caught me a little off guard. "I'm sorry for not recognizing you sooner. I knew Todoroki had siblings, but I never expected to run into you like this."

"You mean literally," Fuyumi said, letting out a bemused laugh. "Like I said, Higuchi-san, don't worry about it."

"Rei," I corrected out of habit.

Fuyumi blinked, looking quite taken aback for some reason. "Pardon me?"

"It's her nickname," Todoroki said, glancing at me.

"What a coincidence," Fuyumi gasped, turning to me with another animated smile. _Coincidence?_ "I would be honored to use it if you don't mind sticking to Fuyumi as well."

"Not at all, Fuyumi-san," I said, gaze flitting back to the basket in her hands. "Don't you ever get tired of cold soba, Todoroki?"

"You're one to talk."

"You're implying something."

"What did you eat for lunch?"

I frowned, asking suspiciously, "How would you know about that?"

"It was more of an educated guess," Todoroki said, shrugging. "You have to eat spicy ramen at least twice a week and Lunch Rush only made it on Tuesday."

Lunch had turned into a routine of sorts for us. Most of the time it was just me and him, but on some days Shōji and Tokoyami shared our table, and Yaoyorozu dropped by quite frequently for chats. That said, the fact that I saw Todoroki nearly everyday and still felt as taken aback when I saw him today seemed almost comedic in hindsight.

"Sorry to interrupt, you two, but I'll go on ahead to pay for this," Fuyumi said, motioning to the cashier. "I hope we see each other again soon, Rei. I assume you'll be participating in the Sports Festival tomorrow?"

"Yeah," I nodded.

"I'll be sure to root for you, too, then," she said, lightly patting my shoulder. I smiled at her in thanks and she kindly returned the gesture. "Take your time, Shouto, I'll just be up front."

The two of us watched as she rounded the corner. It surprised me again how much she physically resembled Todoroki, and for a moment, I found myself wondering what he might look like if he smiled as freely as she did.

"I like her," I said once Fuyumi was out of earshot. "She's nice. And pretty," I paused to glance at him. "You look alike."

Todoroki tilted his head. "Is that your way of saying I'm handsome?"

"Are you losing your hearing at an abnormally young age?" I quipped, stalking off in a random direction.

"You're turning red."

"Am not."

"Are we really going there?"

"I wouldn't have to if you didn't make choosing words so difficult. It's the heat. I told you before, didn't I? You're hot."

I stopped.

He stared.

"My brain thinks of the worst way to say things," I sighed, bringing a hand to my forehead.

Todoroki's mouth twitched at the corners, and like the first day of school, I felt like crawling into a hole. "Do you want me to ignore—"

"Please."

"Okay."

"Let's try that again," I said, nodding more at myself than at him. "I meant to say your left side is unusually warm."

Todoroki stopped walking, and just as suddenly, the lighthearted atmosphere that often accompanied our banter was replaced by something significantly more somber. I paused mid-step and looked at him, really looked at him like I did when I met his sister for the first time.

His hair might've seemed unnatural under average circumstances, but it suited him so well that I couldn't imagine any other colors. I thought the same about his eyes in that sense; I didn't always think silver and turquoise made a good combination, and yet I seemed to see them in all the things I found beautiful these days.

My eyes drifted, trying not to linger on his scar. It wasn't that I found it uncomfortable to look at, but knowing there must've been a story behind it and not knowing what that story was made me feel like I was intruding on something I didn't deserve to know about in the first place.

Unconsciously, I shivered.

I didn't notice that we stopped in the freezer section. The cold typically didn't bother me, but today I wore a cropped shirt and a pair of denim cutoffs. Before I could think about moving, however, Todoroki held out his left hand, his palm facing the ceiling. I stared at it for a second, and then two, and then three.

"Well?"

"'Well,' what?"

"You're cold," Todoroki said.

"A little," I said, unable to tear my eyes away from his trembling fingers. "Are you sure?"

As much as I wanted to take this chance to understand him a little more, I didn't want him to feel like he had some kind of obligation to let me in. His eyes looked more tempestuous than ever, and I knew right away that no, he wasn't, but something about this moment made him want to share the weight on his shoulders despite that.

"Yes," Todoroki said, his tone final. "Are you?"

I sucked in a breath and threw my thoughts out of the metaphorical window, carefully placing my hand on top of his. Like my meeting Fuyumi, I had a vague idea of what to expect, but it didn't prepare me at all for the experience itself. The chill I felt just seconds earlier dissipated entirely, and I could no longer deny what I've always known when I quite literally held the truth in my hands.

"Your other Quirk," I said, looking at him. "It's fire, isn't it?"

His nodded, fingers still trembling, but he didn't say anything else. I curled my hand around his, quietly hoping it provided him some sort of comfort.

"This is the best I can do," Todoroki murmured, lifting his head after a few breaths of silence. "I refuse to use this power. I refuse to be like," his voice cracked as it dropped to a whisper. "Him."

The power.

The flames.

The red hair.

 _Todoroki_.

"Endeavor," I said. "He's your—"

I felt his grip slacken and reflexively tightened my own, releasing my nerves through a deep exhale. No matter how unconventional the puzzle seemed, all of the pieces fit together, but it didn't matter what I knew or didn't know. The fact that he shared as much as he did meant so much more to me than I could have put into words, and the only way I knew how to repay him was to do the same.

"My mother is Kamino."

I paused to watch his reaction, but if Todoroki was surprised at the sudden change of subject, he didn't show it. I almost let out a sigh of relief.

"I'm not like her," I continued, lowering my gaze to the floor. "I don't want to be like her, but she wants me to be, and everyone who knows we're related says I already am."

"She's strong."

"I know."

"So are you."

"I know."

"Not because you're her daughter," Todoroki said, his eyes piercing through my own. "But because—"

"What, because I'm me?"

"Well, yes."

I felt my breath catch at that. Despite my teasing tone, Todoroki spoke with such determined confidence, and I didn't know how to react, much less respond.

"Thanks," I mumbled, lips shaping into a minuscule smile. "Can I say something super inspirational to you now?"

"You've done that a few times already."

"This is the best one yet."

"We'll see," Todoroki deadpanned, and had it been any other time, I would've laughed.

"I know you're afraid of this aspect of your Quirk," I said, shaking my head when he opened his mouth to argue. "That's what you were talking about the day I told you Kan-oji was going to train me, right? And that's why I know you believe me when I say I get it.

"It's not exactly the same because my mother and I have completely different Quirks, but the way I move, the way I think, I learned it all from her. That's something I can't ignore no matter how much I want to, and if I'm being honest, it's the one thing I wouldn't change because I'm striving to use what she taught me to do what I believe is right.

"Endeavor is powerful and I appreciate the good he's done as a Pro Hero, but," I paused, mulling over my words. "I've seen his flames, and thinking about it now, I don't see you in him, nor do I see him in you. His fire embodies him, and it's exactly just that. Fire, nothing more, nothing less."

"But you," I said softly, but surely. "You're so warm."

His breath hitched.

"I'm…"

I sensed so many emotions in that one word that I had to fight the urge to pull him into a much deserved hug. Just the mere thought of that might've startled me more than it would've him.

"You're trying to prove you're not like him," I said, lips quirking into a little grin. "But I think you've already done that just by being yourself."

Todoroki said something after a moment, his voice so quiet I almost didn't hear him over the loud hum of the freezers surrounding us. But I did, and looking back at our conversation, I would've said the same thing about him.

"I thought maybe you understood because we're more alike than I thought, but it's not that at all," Todoroki murmured. "It's because you wanted to understand… isn't it?"

The two of us stood in a supermarket down the street from my house, fingers tangled together in a desperate attempt to show the other person that despite everything, we understood. It was an incredibly intimate moment that occurred in one of the most public places we could've possibly engaged in conversation, but everything about our relationship up until that point had been so unorthodox that it felt so bizarrely us, and that was all that mattered.

"Fuyumi-san is probably waiting and I have to find Kan-oji," I said, giving his hand a final squeeze. "Think about what I said, okay?"

"Fine," Todoroki said, sighing in resignation. "But I'm not making any promises."

"I'll believe in you either way."

"That was cheesy."

"Shut up."

"It didn't even make sense," Todoroki said, raising a brow in unconcealed bemusement. "Were you just waiting to say that?"

"No," I said. " _Yes_ , but I wish I didn't. Don't laugh, I didn't think it was going to come across that bad," he snorted and I frowned. "Whatever, see if I say anything nice to you again."

Todoroki at me for a moment with mirth in his eyes and a smile that, unlike the others, I couldn't excuse as a mere upturn of his lips. The sight of him reminded me of what my father said to me all those years ago, and I felt my heart stutter at the thought.

"Higuchi?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

* * *

The day of the Sports Festival arrived at last.

As expected of Yūei, the stadium hosting the event looked larger than life, filled to the brim with spectators cheering so loudly that it sounded thunderous even through the thick walls separating us. My classmates and I sat in the waiting room provided for Class 1-A, lounging around until the upperclassmen finished their part of the competition.

"What the heck is this?" Ashido groaned, tugging distastefully at the sleeves of her gym uniform. "I can't believe I have to wear my gym clothes on national television!"

Hagakure giggled from somewhere on the other side of the room. "You look great, Mina-chan!"

"Thanks, Tōru-chan, you look—" Ashido paused, laughing awkwardly. "You look great, too!"

"What do you think the first round is going to be like?" Kaminari asked, tipping his chair back on its hind legs.

"Like it matters," Bakugou scoffed, slamming a fist on the table. His fellow blond flinched at the sound and scrambled to maintain his balance. "I'll leave everyone in the fucking dust!"

"It's probably a race or something," I said, ignoring the crimson daggers now pointed in my direction. "I can't think of an easier way to cut down our numbers."

"Like an obstacle course of some sort," Yaoyorozu added thoughtfully, turning her chair from the next table around to face me. "A few of the second and third years said that there's almost always an event that requires a bit of teamwork as well."

"That should be easy for us!" Ochako exclaimed, punching the air in determination. "We've gone up against Villains and All Might and Rei!"

"I'd like to be excluded from this narrative," I said, ducking my head in embarrassment.

Kirishima grinned, nudging my shoulder. "I still think it's cool!"

"And _hot_ —"

Mineta slumped to the floor. Jirō stood behind him, one of her ear jacks having poked him in the eye. I held out my fist and she smirked, lightly knocking it against her own.

"There are some scary people in the other departments," Tsuyu said, bringing a finger to her chin.

"That boy from General Education," Tokoyami said, mulling over his thoughts from beside her. "He seemed adamant about transferring into the Hero Course."

"I wouldn't take him lightly," I said, smiling wryly. "The kids in Class 1-B are objectively a bigger threat, though, and probably our second biggest competition at that."

"Second?" Shōji repeated, furrowing his brows. "Who's our first?"

I almost laughed.

"Each other."

A short bout of silence commanded the conversation as my classmates took a moment to absorb my words. The people who knew all of our strengths and weakness sat right here in this room, but that didn't mean a full blown civil war. Each of us will have our moment to shine regardless of first place, and with the whole world watching us, it would do us good to show our capabilities as individuals and as teams.

"That's makes me a little sad," Sero sighed.

Ojiro pursed his lips. "It's true now that I think about it."

"It was true before that," I said, lifting my shoulders in a half-hearted shrug. "This is a popularity contest. That said, though, people tend to root for those whom they can relate to, and us being friends," I eyed Mineta and resisted the urge to roll my eyes mid-speech. " _Most_ of us being friends is a priceless advantage."

Aoyama chuckled, flipping his hair over his shoulder. "Did you just use whom in a sentence?"

" _Who_ are you?"

Bakugou snorted beside me, and I had to double check that the noise came from him. It wasn't the kind of sarcastic snort he did before spitting out an insult, but a snort that sounded suspiciously like a laugh. My head shot up so fast once I made the distinction that I swore I heard my neck crack, and it seemed like everyone else had the same idea, staring at him in disbelief.

"What was that?" I asked, inching closer to him.

Bakugou scowled, the tips of his ears flushing as he swatted his hand at me. "Get the fuck away from me."

"He laughed," Kirishima whispered, blinking rapidly. "At least, I think it was supposed to be a laugh," he turned to Ochako, whose mouth had blatantly dropped open. "That was a laugh, right?"

"Shut the fuck up," Bakugou hissed, turning even redder out of annoyance. "It was only funny because she fucking roasted him!"

Kaminari pointed a finger at him. "She roasts you all the time!"

"Why the hell would I find that funny, dumbass?!"

"Rei made Kacchan laugh," Deku muttered, his face turning astoundingly white. "How did she do that? How is that possible?"

"Higuchi."

I tensed at the abrupt chill emitting from my side, my attention instantly diverting to the boy sitting next to me. He stared at me with eyes sharper than knives, and the sheer intensity made my breath pause.

"I said I won't make any promises," Todoroki said, his voice cutting through the chatter. "What if I said I'm going to win?"

"You're kind of full of it," I said.

The cold spiked.

"Maybe we should save this for later," Kirishima interrupted, his chair scraping against the floor as he stood. "We, uh, might be called up soon and—"

"No, we all need to hear this now," I refuted, holding up a hand. "Because we're in the Hero Course, we're inclined to think this will be an easy pass, but while it's true we have an advantage, that sort of 'us and them' mentality completely undermines the effort that the contestants from other classes are putting into this event.

"For some people, this a make it or break it situation, and that means risking more than just their reputation by participating in something this big. Those who have everything to lose plan to use every bit of their power to come out on top," I paused for a second, staring pointedly at Todoroki. "It's up to you to decide if you want to do the same, but unless you do, you don't get to decide you've already won."

Eighteen pairs of eyes drilled holes into every expanse of my body, but all of a sudden, the room burst into cheers. The two toned irises still locked onto my own still looked calculating, and I might've felt intimidated had I not noticed the previous drop in temperature suddenly rise to normal levels once again.

"You should start charging," Todoroki said, his shoulders relaxing the slightest bit.

I let out a deep breath, allowing the relief to wash over me. "Maybe I'll make cards, too."

"Do you ever get the feeling we're missing out on something whenever they talk to each other?" Kaminari asked a giggling Ashido, their shifty eyes glancing at us in playful suspicion.

"Rei's right," Deku said, his fists clenched tightly. "Everyone else in the competition might be better at using their Quirk than me, but I'm not going to quit until I give it my best shot!"

"Way to be manly!" Kirishima laughed, throwing a fist into the air. "Forget the calm crap, I'm all fired up now!"

"That's what I'm fucking talking about," Bakugou said, crimson eyes blazing alongside his wicked grin. "I want to crush every single one of you extras at your one hundred percent!"

The door to the waiting room suddenly burst open to reveal a stone-faced Iida. His forehead creased together and his lips formed a straight line, but knowing him, it was probably a result of his own nerves.

"It's time! I'm sure you're anxious, but… but…" Iida blinked, looking affronted. "What in the world? None of you look nervous at all!"

"You missed another class bonding session, Iida-chan!" Tsuyu beamed.

"Here's the short version," Ashido said, jumping to her feet. "Class 1-A is going to kick some major ass!"

* * *

" _Welcome to Yūei Academy's annual Sports Festival!"_

The sheer noise in the stadium coupled with Present Mic's bellowing voice might've given me a headache if not for the adrenaline pumping through my system. The first years gathered onto the main field, and though the staff grouped us together by our classes, I spotted a handful of other familiar faces off the bat.

Monoma stood at the front of his class with an overly pleasant smile on his face. The sight alone irritated me, and I switched my attention to Kendō right beside him, her eyes sparkling at the sight of the cheering audience. Shinsō stood a little further away, but his purple hair stuck out amongst the plethora of brunettes in his class.

Looking at him, I couldn't help but think that Kan-oji made a rare mistake in the implication that everyone meant to be in the Hero Course was already in it. As I steeped my thoughts, Shinsō turned his head and matched my gaze, indifferent as ever despite the seemingly ever present smirk that graced his features. I greeted him with a dip of my head, which he hesitantly reciprocated with a nod of his own.

The applause suddenly magnified to a defeating roar as our designated proctor finally made her entrance. Midnight strutted across the stage, clad in her signature costume. Men and women alike gasped at her beauty while degenerates like Mineta straight up started bleeding on the floor.

"What is she wearing?" Kirishima asked, his face almost flushing the same color of his hair.

Ashido sighed, fanning herself. "She is so hot!"

"She's our teacher!"

"Makes it even hotter," Kaminari grinned impishly, slapping the redhead on the back.

"Before we start, let's have our student representative say a few words," Kayama-sensei smirked. "Bakugou Katsuki, come on up!"

The crowd clapped on command, but the entire student body and even some of the teachers in the stands turned to stare at the blond in bewilderment. Now that I thought about it, though, I wasn't too surprised. Despite his temper, Bakugou had the highest grades in both physical and written scores outside of recommended students, a feat apparently not many people knew about.

"Well, that happened," Jirō said, flinching as Kaminari flailed beside her. "I keep forgetting he placed first in the entrance exam."

"Don't sound so impressed!" Mineta whined, crossing his arms. "He's going to get us all killed!"

Bakugou appeared the most neutral I had ever seen him, his expression betraying no other emotion apart from the zealousness evident in his crimson irises. He stepped onto the podium with his hands shoved into his pockets and leaned into the mic, urging everyone else to inch closer in anticipation.

"I pledge to become number one!"

Mineta toppled over all on his own this time. The rest of our class didn't look any less exasperated as students from the other departments booed Bakugou off the stage. Kirishima held his head in his hands, Yaoyorozu pinched the bridge of her nose, Ochako let out a nervous laugh, and Deku looked just about ready to pass out.

"How childish," Todoroki huffed.

I bumped his shoulder with my own. "Don't pretend like you weren't thinking the same thing."

"Now that, uh, that's out of the way, let's jump right into the festivities!" Kayama-sensei said, clapping her hands together. "The first round will be an obstacle race around the stadium!"

"How?" Kaminari mumbled under his breath, peering over at me and Yaoyorozu. "How do you know literally everything?"

As we settled into our positions, I couldn't help but wonder about the next couple of hours. The waiting room fired up my classmates in the best way possible, but they ignited the match within each of them on their own. I glanced at the boy to my right. Todoroki made his declaration of war long before I found my resolve.

Facing him would be difficult no matter the circumstance, but I felt grateful for the opportunity to say so much of what I wanted to tell him before all of this started. Regardless of what he decided to do, I had the satisfaction of knowing that I at least laid my cards out on the table, and that was enough for now.

 _"Isn't this exciting, Eraserhead?"_ Present Mic exclaimed, and I could've sworn I heard Aizawa-sensei roll his eyes. _"Let the first year stage of the Sports Festival—"_

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

 _"Begin!"_

Todoroki stepped forward and in the same second the ground beneath our feet transformed into an ice rink. I found it a little annoying not having my flask with me, but it looked like I'd be fine without it. I used the frost to propel me forward, matching his speed as we skated past the dozens of bodies frozen at the start line.

A blast sounded out from somewhere behind us and I didn't have to turn around to know that Bakugou managed to zoom ahead. From my peripheral, I saw Yaoyorozu using an extended version of her signature staff to vault over a patch of rime. Iida avoided the ice completely by running far out enough that it couldn't reach him. I had a feeling the rest of our classmates didn't have much of a problem getting through either.

At the frontlines, Todoroki and I stopped just in time to dodge the giant ditch suddenly erupting in front of us. As the ice cracked, a colossal hunk of steel almost three stories tall emerged out of the cavity, effortlessly towering over everything else in the vicinity.

"It's the Zero bot from the entrance exam!" Kaminari exclaimed, stumbling to a stop behind us.

In the midst of the conspiratorial murmurs, mostly people from the other departments wondering aloud how the Hero Course managed to defeat the robots, Todoroki dipped his hand to the ground and then swung his arm. Ice shot out in seemingly every direction, so much so that the temperature felt like it dropped a couple of degrees. The attack immobilized the robot in one sweep, leaving the horde of students behind us gaping in shock as he sprinted ahead.

"He froze it! Now we can get through!"

"No way," Kaminari said, frowning. "That's too good to be true, right?"

"I'd be careful," I nodded, forming a geyser from the chunks of ice. Just before I launched myself over the mountain of metal in my path, I gave him a sly smile. "Don't wait up, Kaminari!"

Bakugou rocketed into the sky seconds after I did. Tokoyami and Dark Shadow scaled the block of ice before it collapsed entirely. Right behind them, I caught a glimpse of a redhead successfully punching through the shrapnel with a hardened fist and couldn't keep the corners of my mouth from curving upward.

"Not cool, Todoroki!" Kirishima said, groaning. "If that happened to anyone else, they would've been seriously hurt!"

As soon as I landed back on my feet, I used the ice to shoot forward. Before I could get very far, the ground rumbled again, and hundreds of smaller sized robots came marching out from the trees. I rolled my eyes in exasperation and spun my arms.

The ice surrounding me mimicked the movement and hurtled towards our steely adversaries not unlike an oncoming maelstrom. Crystal shards stabbed through dozens of robots while the others in the near distance blew up into even smaller pieces thanks to a certain blond bomber. An electrical current shutdown another cluster in the distance, and I turned around, thoroughly impressed.

"I can't believe that worked!" Kaminari wheezed.

The only thing left separating us from Todoroki was a single gargantuan automaton. A missile aimed at its main body landed a direct hit, and when the smoke cleared, I saw Yaoyorozu discarding a portable canon as she sped forward on a motorbike. I didn't bother sticking around to see who else approached, but I could hear the frustrated cries echoing through the forest.

"How the heck is everyone from Class 1-A barely even breaking a sweat?"

The next obstacle looked like a canyon with at least a hundred foot drop. By the time I made it out to the clearing, Todoroki stood just a few yards away. He secured the soles of his shoes with ice and slid down the ropes provided for us to cross. I could've done the same thing, but keeping the audience in mind, I decided to diverge from following in his exact footsteps.

I shut my eyes, instead focusing on finding a familiar pulse. It came and went like a rippling wave urging me forward until I neared the cliff ledge. The river at the bottom trickled downstream, white water crashing against the rocks, and like muscle memory my arms stretched out, feeling the pull, beckoning it towards me. The water rose higher and higher until it leveled with the ground I stood on, and then I ran.

In order to transform liquid into ice, molecules needed to move slower before steadily sticking together once temperatures reached 0°C. As long as I kept the temperature close to that without actually reaching the limit, I could essentially walk on water by making sure it emitted a consistent stream of energy pulled from the constant changing temperatures and then using the repellant force to cross the surface.

I picked it up from my training with Kan-oji and thought of no better time to put it to use than right now. My Quirk at its core was liquid manipulation, after all, and though I had grown comfortable manipulating water in all its forms, controlling it in this state was about as difficult as tying my shoelaces.

"Rei is practically on top of Todoroki!" Mineta cried, his ill choice of words receiving a number of disapproving glares. "Why is it always him?"

Most of the students had trouble finding a way to cross, but the gap between me and the next surge of survivors shortened drastically. Likewise, Todoroki probably had less than a hundred feet on me by the time we got to the landmines. His Quirk didn't allow much strategy at this point in the race since dashing forward would trigger the explosives, and freezing the dirt would eliminate the threat of this trial for everyone else.

Between the two of us, I had a slight advantage with my Quirk's versatility. I extracted enough water from the ground to create a sphere of ice heavy enough to set off one or two mines. Juggling it for a bit, I aimed for a spot a few feet from where Todoroki stood, close enough to catch him off guard without putting him in serious harm. That, of course, didn't make it any less reckless, but I wanted to win.

The boom that resulted after the ball dropped almost rivaled one of Bakugou's explosions. I coughed into my elbow as a blanket of smog caked over the field, making it impossible to see anything until the fumes fanned out. It bought me some time since those coming in from behind me couldn't see the glazed ground through the smoke, forcing them to wait until the smoke cleared to pass.

"Found you."

The ice preventing the bombs just inches beneath my feet from detonating started to evaporate. I couldn't afford to properly react to the fact that Todoroki needed his left side to perform this task, but if anything, it only motivated me to move even faster. In his own way, Todoroki decided to do his best to be his best, and doing so gave him the perfect chance to ease into using his other Quirk.

The thought of _oh, crap_ , that came with that realization muted any pride I had. I barely ducked in time to avoid the fist aimed at my face along with a kick to my knees and a jab in my side. Todoroki swiped at me again, his reach extended by the ice claws he made with his Quirk, but I reflected the attack by sending it back to him as a fusillade of liquid needles.

He brought up his arm and built a wall of ice to deflect the pins. I turned it into liquid once more, and much like I had done in my fight against Iida, I sucked in a breath and trapped us inside a giant glacier. Before I could restrain him, however, his left hand flickered with a faint glow, and in mere seconds the crystalised shell encasing us thawed out.

 _He's…_

Todoroki stood in front of me, his clothes dripping and torn, breathing haphazard and strained, and left arm ablaze in wisps of orange and red. I recalled the words I said to him less than twenty-four hours ago, how I believed his power was different from his father's because it was more than just fire. His eyes, illuminated his flames, glistened brighter than I had ever seen them before.

My breath hitched.

 _Beautiful._

The two of us stood there unmoving, unblinking, and so unaware of everything else in our surroundings. I couldn't help but think of the sunset and the warmth and the comfort I felt in his presence despite our inevitable match. In my distraction, Todoroki broke the silence, a rare smirk on his face.

"You did this," Todoroki said. "I can't say I know how or why, but this is all because of you."

"Yeah, I might have some regrets."

Todoroki shook his head, his right foot subtly producing a slate of ice. "You're more of a masochist than I thought."

"Maybe you're just a sadist," I retorted, offering him a wry smile as I beckoned bits of the frost towards me.

"I told you, didn't I?" Todoroki said, his smirk widening as liquid enveloped my arms, turning them into thick water whips. "No matter what, I don't intend to lose."

I responded with an attempted slap in the face using the liquid lassos. He blocked it with a shield of ice made by his right hand and countered with a less than stable flamethrower from his left, but I extinguished with a swift stream of liquid.

Todoroki lurched forward and swathed the field in frost, but as soon as he stood directly in front of me, I dropped the whips and threw out my hands. Against his will, he dropped to his knees.

"Maybe we're both masochists," Todoroki muttered, struggling to move against my blood prison.

I almost laughed, though it came out more like a grunt in my effort to keep him still. "That's starting to sound like a personal problem."

I had about two seconds before Todoroki realized that he could technically still produce ice—and _fire_ —despite my hold on him, and another second before Bakugou caught up.

"Hey, shitheads!"

A string of curses escaped my mouth as I toiled to keep one hand focused on Todoroki while the other shot an effluxion of water at the blond soaring towards us. Bakugou didn't have the liberty to dodge in midair so he settled for a blast that softened the blow. Todoroki, in the meantime, realized that his right side still projected frost and sent a flurry of ice towards me and the blond.

"Todoroki is using flames?!"

"Why isn't he moving? Is Rei doing that?"

"Bakugou looks like he's about to blow up this whole place!"

I sighed in irritation as our party of three expanded into at least a dozen other students, but the current state of the obstacle course appeared to stop them from proceeding any further. Half of the field remained covered in ice while the other half still looked hazy from when I set off the explosions. Bakugou's explosions added to the smoke, and with the minefield on top of that, I knew none of them could get through unless one of us went down first.

"That's how you got me during that lame ass rescue mission!" Bakugou snarled, his bracers lighting up. "You're doing that thing you did to that piece of shit Villain!"

"Thank you for pointing out the obvious."

"Fuck off, half shit!"

"I don't think—"

I stopped abruptly, gasping. "Shut up."

"What?" they asked in unison, both boys looking over at me with identical frowns.

Another explosion sounded out, and in the midst of the debris came a larger projectile rocketing towards the finish line. It moved so rapidly that I could only make out a blur of green, but I had grown to recognize that color like the back of my hand.

"Sorry, guys," I murmured. "I can't let him take the lead."

Everything after that moment turned into a whirlwind of sounds and colors. I released my hold on Todoroki and in the same breath used whatever energy I had left to gather every bit of discarded ice and liquid in the area. The amalgamation sent me flying, leaving the minefield and the two boys momentarily paralyzed behind me.

It only took them a second to regain their senses, but I expected as much from them. The next time I blinked, Todoroki and Bakugou started closing in on me again, one bolting across the ground and the other darting through the air.

 _A declaration of war…_

I kept my eyes on the start line.

* * *

 **postscript**

yeah, i wrote this, but even i was bouncing off the walls as i re-read it before posting. a lot happened in this chapter and even more will be happening in the next two or three so please feel free to psychoanalyze every interaction and let me know what you think. certain scenes in canon that foreshadowed future events have been tweaked, which means from here on out things will be a little more unpredictable in terms of following the anime and manga. i also know some people are wondering which one i'm basing this story on, but i'm just taking bits and pieces from both!

to be frank, i always knew rei was going to be the one to encourage todoroki to use his left side, but i didn't think it was going to happen so soon until i started writing the second half of this chapter. It just didn't make sense to me that he _wouldn't_ use it, especially against her, which is kind of poetic even though i sympathize with rei and that oh, crap, what have i done moment.

that said, i didn't find any part of this purposefully romantic. their moment at the grocery store was intimate, rei even said so herself, but it had more to do with really solidifying their friendship than anything else at this point, which is why it's one of my favorite scenes to date. i'm really trying to showcase their chemistry without blatantly diving straight into wow, they're in love! so todorei will continue to be slow burn in that sense.

as always, please drop a review and feel free to make comments or suggestions or I don't know, crazy theories. I am eternally thankful for all of the support. thank you for reading (◍•ᴗ•◍)

p.s. happy belated birthday, todoroki!


	9. Coaster

No copyright infringement intended.

* * *

—

 **IX. Coaster**

—

* * *

Second place was a position I found myself in more times than I cared to admit. I fell behind Yaoyorozu and Iida when it came to academics and Todoroki and Bakugou when it came to physical strength, even came in second to Deku and Ochako and Kirishima when it came to things like perseverance and kindness. The one thing I held to my advantage was my years of training experience, but that wasn't an inherent trait or talent, so I grew up believing I had to work twice as hard just to be half as good as the people around me.

It never occurred to me how thoughtless I was until I met Midoriya Izuku. For someone with such a minimal grasp over his Quirk, he showed more drive and determination in the handful of months I knew him than I did in all fifteen years of my life. People expected me to succeed and I just happened to prove them right because I had the money, the connections, the genetic code. Despite my being second place an annoying number of times, I didn't know what it felt like to outright fail.

Deku was the opposite, an underdog in every sense of the word, but he managed to clear every obstacle in his path with an unbreakable resolve to do his absolute best. Until recently, that was the difference between him and I, and because of that I didn't feel particularly nonplussed when he ended up the first person to make it back to the stadium.

I was the second.

By the time I realized I couldn't reach him, I felt angry, _so_ angry at myself for not doing better. I couldn't take control of his blood while we both moved that fast, but if I slowed down for even a second, Todoroki and Bakugou would've caught up. It was a matter of settling for second or third or even fourth place, and as dismayed as I felt about having such undesirable options, I was more upset that I didn't think to question it.

"Shit," Bakugou cursed, tugging at the spikes on his head. "I can't believe fucking Deku won the first round."

The four of us stood in the arena, waiting idly for the other contestants to arrive. I spared a glance at the green haired boy marveling at the crowd currently chanting his name and bit the inside of my cheek in thought. Even though we boarded the same boat, Deku didn't stay complacent like I did. He went above and beyond what everyone else expected from him just as he did throughout the semester.

"His plan was incredible," I said, still huffing from the amount of energy I spent in the last bout of the race. "He's always been that creative, huh?"

I chose my words carefully, knowing that had I asked if he was always that intelligent, Bakugou would've shut down in an instant. It sounded too positive, too much like a compliment. I needed to use something more straight to the point, like incredible instead of brilliant or creative, not smart.

"Fucking crazy is more like it."

That was about as good of a response as I would get from him. Maybe I should've been more alarmed at how fluent I had become in speaking his language, but that particular talent always felt more like a help than a hindrance. I buried the thought and left him to brood for a bit, looking around for a glimpse of red.

Todoroki stood a few feet away from us, his fists clenched and dual colored fringe sweeping over his eyes. I knew he was upset about losing, but as my own eyes trailed over his left arm, exposed by the burnt sleeve on his uniform, I couldn't help but wonder if his anger rooted itself in something else entirely.

"How's your arm?" I asked.

"You hate small talk."

"This isn't that."

"I'm fine."

"Sure," I said, leaning against the wall beside him. "Why are you glaring at Deku like he stepped on your cat?"

He glanced at me from the corner of his eye, confusion just barely surfacing from a slew of other emotions. "I don't have a cat."

"Unfortunate, but not the point. I'm upset I didn't win either," his gaze shifted to the floor and I sighed, nodding. "That's not why you're upset."

"Midoriya can barely control his Quirk, but All Might, of all people, has an interest in him," Todoroki said, frowning.

"It's not like he tries to hide it," I said, a bit taken aback by the accuracy and bluntness of his observation. "Even Aizawa-sensei is curious, though I bet he'd deny it if you asked."

"What makes him so special?"

"The sleeping bag—"

Todoroki gave me a pointed look. "You know what I mean."

"Yeah, well, I don't have an answer for you," I said, shrugging. "I'm not going to lie and say I'm not suspicious about his Quirk, but it's not any of my business to ask unless he decides to tell me about it himself."

Todoroki ducked his head, an expression akin to humility flickering across his face when he recognized the double meaning to my words. He didn't look as tense anymore, but his frown remained, and I decided after no deliberation at all that I didn't like seeing it on his face.

"I guess you're right," Todoroki mumbled, shoulders slumping. "Sorry."

"Nothing to apologize for," I said, lips quirking into a smile. "If it's any consolation, Deku is a complete mystery to me, too."

Todoroki furrowed his brows. "Why do you call him that?"

"What?"

"'Deku,'" Todoroki recited, the name sounding foreign on his tongue. "Bakugou calls him that as an insult, but it doesn't look like you think of him in that way."

I pondered his question and found that I didn't have a reliable answer. Initially, I started calling him that because I needed Bakugou to cooperate with me, and at the time it seemed like uttering any variation of _Midoriya_ ticked him off, but I could've stopped using the moniker after that battle. I didn't.

"He asked me to call him that," I said, trying out the only reply that made sense. "Bakugou gave him that nickname to put him down, but he's come to accept it as something that brings him strength instead. Ochako said it was cute," my grin widened. "I think helped. He knows he's not the person Bakugou expected him to be so he doesn't have a problem embracing the name anymore."

"That's honorable," Todoroki admitted, begrudgingly.

"Sounds familiar, doesn't it?"

"To what?"

"To you," I mused. "You completely rejected your left side because you wanted to prove you aren't like your father, but in the end you realized this power is yours alone."

Todoroki took a second to process my words before shaking his head. "Thanks to you."

"No, I just told you to think about it and you did. I'm proud of you."

"For thinking?"

"For being you."

"That would've been touching if you didn't roll your eyes," Todoroki said dryly, but the corners of his mouth twitched into an elfin smile. "You're getting better at these conversations. Less cheesy."

"I was never that cheesy," I grumbled, bumping his shoulder. His left shoulder, I realized with a gasp. "Sorry—are you okay?"

His smile shifted into something more like a ghost of a smirk. "The flames don't hurt me, you know."

"Can't say the same for your uniform," I said, motioning to his clothes and willing myself not to stare longer than necessary at his exposed left half. "You know this means you need a new costume, right?"

"Any ideas?"

"Blue looks good on you."

Todoroki blinked, but nodded. "I'll keep that in mind."

* * *

It took another ten minutes for the rest of the first thirty-two students to make it back to the stadium, and I felt more than a little proud when I realized my entire class ranked within the top thirty. Shinsō came in at number twenty-seven as the only person from General Education to pass. I was impressed, to say the least, but in that vein, I was confused by how poorly Class 1-B performed.

Two people from their class ranked in the top five, but Monoma barely scraped by at number thirty-one, and the majority of his other classmates didn't do much better. I knew for a fact that Kan-oji wouldn't have sent his kids to complete if he didn't feel like they could handle it. Judging by the smirk on his face, Monoma knew that, too.

Class 1-B did bad on purpose, and if they did so because they wanted to catch us off guard, it worked. My friends looked extremely proud of themselves, as they should, but most of them paid hardly any attention to anyone outside of our class. Even Shinsō looked a bit smug at placing higher than over half of the students in the Hero Course.

"Congratulations to everyone who made it through to the next round! The objective is simple: all you have to do is stay in the circle," Kayama-sensei motioned to the white ring drawn in the center of the stadium. "First eight people to remain inside will move onto the third and final trial!"

"Eight?" Iida exclaimed, lifting an arm in the air. "Excuse me! Does that mean over two thirds of the current competitors will be eliminated?"

"Yup," Kayama-sensei grinned, popping the _p_. "This is where it gets interesting. The top eight from the obstacle race have the liberty to choose three other students to form squads of four. Highest rank gets first pick."

I watched as names and faces appeared on the monitors scattered throughout the stadium. Midoriya Izuku. Higuchi Reiko. Todoroki Shouto. Bakugou Katsuki. Yaoyorozu Momo. Shiozaki Ibara. Honenuki Jūzo. Iida Tenya. All from the Hero Course.

"You're allowed to use your Quirk to stay in the circle or push other people out. Teammates are there to help you and vice versa, but if you get kicked out of bounds, those eight spots are still fair game to the rest of the group."

"Are you saying we could be helping the people on our team move onto the next round and still be eliminated ourselves?" Shiozaki Ibara, if I recall correctly, asked.

"That's exactly right," Kayama-sensei said, hands on her hips. "Do what you will with that information, but right now it's time to pick the teams. The students up on those monitors, come forward!"

My legs felt heavy as I trudged up the stairs leading us to the stage. It didn't make sense why they wanted us in groups if it still boiled down to every person still fending for themselves. I thought of a few people who wouldn't hesitate to risk their spot to help their teammates—

I stopped on the steps and probably would've stayed there in a stupefied daze if Bakugou hadn't impatiently kicked the back of my foot.

The whole point of the Sports Festival wasn't to show off our Quirks and skills. In the grand scheme of things, it was to prove our potential as future Pro Heroes. This part of the tournament showed the entire world who cared about saving others and who only cared about saving themselves. It was brilliant in a rather twisted way, and I felt a bit like an idiot for not realizing sooner.

That said, I would've preferred to have first pick, but I was lucky enough to go after Deku. I knew he wouldn't choose any of the people I wanted on my team, as evidenced by the first name out of his mouth.

"U-Uraraka-chan!"

Deku was, for lack of a better term, incredibly wholesome. I had no doubt that he would do everything in his power to make sure the other members of his team moved onto the next round. It only made sense for him to choose people he felt comfortable around, and the brunette skipping excitedly on stage happened to be at the top of that list.

"Tsuyu-chan!"

Tsuyu hopped up the stairs, and despite the surprise on some of the faces in the crowd, I didn't think that came as much of a shocker either. Tusyu got along fine with both Deku and Ochako, and though she was probably one of the few in our class who would've worked well with anybody, I had to admit this particular captain suited her the most.

"Kirishima-kun!"

 _What the—_

I never even considered the possibility of Kirishima teaming up with someone other than Bakugou, least of all Deku. It wasn't until I saw him give Tsuyu a hi-five did I understand. The three of them spent most of their time together when the Villains attacked USJ, and looking at the aforementioned blond, I knew firsthand that going through an experience like that brought people closer than they might have expected.

"That completes our first team!" Kayama-sensei said, shuffling over to place a hand on my shoulder. "Next up, Higuchi Reiko!"

I sucked in a breath, hyper aware of the thousands of eyes in the stadium calculating my every move. Truth be told, all of my ideal teammates currently stood beside me as fellow captains, which made coming up with a squad more challenging than I anticipated. My next pick would've been Tokoyami, but Dark Shadow had a severe disadvantage against Bakugou's explosions and Todoroki's flames. I needed someone who could keep out of reach, someone like—

"Hatsume Mei."

The pink haired girl adjusted the goggles on her head as she stumbled forward. I saw her name on the board when Kayama-sensei rounded us up and realized that she was the only person from the Department of Support to make it to the next round. Kan-oji did tell me to keep an eye out for the Support kids, and I counted on the others not knowing what she was capable of to use as an additional advantage.

"Shinsō Hitoshi."

Shinsō gave me a hard look from across the crowd before slowly approaching the stage. His expression looked all kinds of skeptical, and despite everyone, including himself, gaping at me in disbelief, I didn't regret the decision. Part of me humored the thought of inviting Monoma to my team, too, but I was risky, not dumb.

"Kendō Itsuka."

Whispers turned into shouts of protest as the few remaining in Class 1-B watched one of their own carefully make her way up the steps. Despite her obvious surprise, Kendō offered me a kind smile. I appreciated the gesture, but considering my own classmates couldn't stop ogling us, I didn't blame her for feeling a little taken aback.

The rest of the selections seemed far less controversial in comparison. Todoroki picked Tokoyami, Shōji, and Kaminari. Bakugou decided on Ashido, Sero, and Hagakure. Yaoyorozu chose Jirō and Ojiro, while somehow Mineta conned his way into her team. Iida teamed up with Aoyama, Kōda, and a stray named Rikidō Satō. In the meantime, the two leaders from Class 1-B rounded up the rest of the people in their class with Monoma joining Honenuki Jūzo.

Kayama-sensei gave us five minutes to discuss strategy with our groups. Hatsume waved at me and Kendō flashed another grin, but our last teammate wasted no time in scrutinizing me, eyes narrowed.

"Why did you pick me?" Shinsō demanded, his signature smirk replaced by a deep frown.

"I was surprised, too," Kendō admitted, smiling sheepishly. "Not that I'm not happy to be on your team, Higuchi-san, but you did have the opportunity to choose people from your own class."

"What, did you decide to take the worst of the bunch so you don't have to worry about anyone but yourself?" Shinsō asked, then glanced at the other two girls. "No offense."

"I don't mind," Hatsume shrugged. "I didn't think anyone was going to pick me at all."

"I'm almost annoyed that's what you think of me," I said, matching Shinsō's frown. "Is it really so hard to believe that I thought my best chance of succeeding meant having you on my team?"

"You hardly know us," Shinsō scoffed, folding his arms across his chest. "How can you be so sure?"

"You're taking this more seriously than half of the people on this field," I said, fixing my gaze on him. "That's the kind of person I want on my team."

Shinsō stared at me for what felt like hours before letting out a sigh that seemed to release most of his frustrations.

"Okay," he said.

"Okay?"

"Hurry up before I change my mind."

For whatever reason, I couldn't help the smile stretching across my face. It wasn't like I didn't notice my habit of giving motivational speeches to the rest of my class, but like Shinsō said, I didn't know him or Kendō or Hatsume well or at all. Whether or not they did so in order to make it to the next round, I appreciated their cooperation and reminded myself not to take that trust for granted.

"I doubt you can use your mind control on every single person at the same time," I said, turning to the boy. "But you can pick off anyone careless enough to underestimate you."

"Which is everyone."

"No offense."

"Touché," Shinsō snorted. "You want me to get them to walk out of bounds?"

"No," I said, shaking my head. "Dozens of people willingly dropping out will make it too obvious. Just get them to leave us alone, maybe to focus on the other teams. The less people who know about your powers, the better."

Kendō gave me an apologetic smile. "My class is kind of bent on taking yours down so they definitely won't be paying much attention to him," she turned to Shinsō, chuckling slightly. "No offense."

"Perfect," my grin widened. "I caught a glimpse of your expansion Quirk during the race. Would you mind acting as our primary defense? Kind of like a safety net if we somehow find ourselves heading out of bounds."

"Sure thing," Kendō said, throwing me a thumbs up. "I can probably land a few punches along the way, too."

I nodded and glanced at the pinkette next. "I hope you don't mind me asking, Hatsume-san, but what exactly is your Quirk?"

"I can zoom in on things from far away," Hatsume said, pointing at her eyes. "If I focus enough, I can see up to a distance of five kilometers."

"Then let's make sure you're at least five kilometers off the ground," I said, switching my attention to the jetpack strapped to her back. "Do you have any other equipment you can use?"

"Of course! Just leave it to me and my babies," Hatsume crooned, lightly patting her equipment. "I even have an extra jetpack if you want to use it!"

"That'd be great," I said, turning to Shinsō. "You should use it."

Shinsō arched a brow. "Why me?"

"Your Quirk is impressive, but Management doesn't exactly put you through the same level of physical training that we do. It'll help to have something you can use to maneuver the field."

"And you?"

"I'll get you as close to as many people possible and keep fliers from going after Hatsume-san."

"Here," Hatsume said, holding out three pairs of in-ears. "I made these transceivers a few days ago. If I see anything while I'm up there, I can let you know right away!"

"Thanks, Hatsume-san," I said, taking the pods from her with a grateful grin. Shinsō and Kendō did the same. "No, thank you all for agreeing to work with me."

"Not like we had much of a choice," Shinsō said, the corners of his mouth finally curling into a familiar smirk. "I just figured that if I'm going to hell, I might as well put on a show."

* * *

The eight teams congregated inside the giant circle, each of us standing equidistant from the center and outer rim. Deku and his team stood on our immediate left and to our right, team Shiozaki. Most of Class 1-B in general seemed like the type to steer clear of heavy hitters, leaving people like Hatsume and Shinsō more susceptible to attacks.

I didn't think I'd see much of Deku during this around if a certain blond bomber had any say in it. Bakugou already positioned himself in a crouch across from us, and on either side of his group, Yaoyorozu and Todoroki appeared poised and prepared. Unlike Class 1-B, I had no doubt that those three had plans to go after the biggest threats first and then work their way down.

Like I said, Deku had his hands full with Bakugou alone, but I probably had an equally large target on my back. I expected Todoroki to be more of a pain to deal with than Yaoyorozu if only because he had a near unlimited supply of ammunition. As long as Yaoyorozu focused all of her energy on her Quirk, I didn't have to worry about engaging her face to face.

Iida looked less than thrilled to have a handful of strangers on his squad. In contrast, Monoma stood opposite him with a roguish smile on his face. Kendō revealed that the blond's Quirk allowed him to steal other Quirks under a five minute time limit. I had to make sure I stayed out of his range, but I also needed to keep him away from people with stronger Quirks like Todoroki and Bakugou.

"Ready?" Shinsō asked, tugging on his jetpack for good measure.

"Not really," I said.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

An explosion shot out the same second the buzzer sounded, and before I could blink, Bakugou had his right fist aimed at his wide-eyed target. Kirishima leapt forward just in time to block it with his hardened wrist. Tsuyu stuck her tongue out in an attempt to grab the blond, but Sero pulled Bakugou back to safety with a long string of tape. The expletives that escaped his mouth after that snapped me out of my startled stupor.

"In the air," I commanded.

Hatsume gave a salute and hurtled towards the sky. Shinsō turned on his jetpack, hovering close by as I sprinted forward and threw my own punch at Yaoyorozu, who swiftly ducked and tried to sweep my feet out from under me. I dodged with a backflip and shot a barrage of thin ice bullets I created from the moisture in the air at her and her team.

Jirō produced a soundwave to block the attack, but Shinsō shot a wire arrow courtesy of our resident inventor at her figure. It coiled tightly around the short haired girl, and despite her struggle, he easily pulled her towards him.

"Give up," Shinsō said.

Jirō glared at him. "As if—"

"Go after the other teams and leave ours alone for the rest of the competition."

Shinsō feigned a flinch and dropped her to the ground. Yaoyorozu and Ojiro breathed a sigh of relief as their teammate seemed to brush herself off and redirect her attention to Iida and his group.

A sudden chill swept through me, bringing a ghost of a smirk to my lips. Todoroki was in the midst of blocking a barrage of explosions from Bakugou on the opposite side of the stadium, but his ice spread quickly across the rest of the field.

 _"Higuchi-san, there's a small, round, uh, purple thing approaching your six o'clock."_

I nabbed a slab of ice just in time to halt an onslaught of adhesive spheres. Mineta squeaked in surprise and scrambled to hide, but I turned my makeshift shield into a stream of water with enough, perhaps excessive, force to knock him out of the circle.

 _"Higuchi Reiko eliminates Mineta Minoru!"_ Present Mic announced. _"In addition, Bakugou Katsuki takes out Aoyama Yūga, while Todoroki Shouto removes Hagakure Tōru from play! Man, Eraserhead, what's up with your class?"_

"Thanks, Hatsu—"

 _"Duck!"_

I didn't know if she meant that warning for me, but I hit the ground out of reflex. A whoosh of air sent the hairs on the back of my neck standing, and I looked up to find Ojiro preparing another attack. Kendō interfered before he could land a hit, literally grabbing him by the tail with her enlarged fists.

 _"Kendō Itsuka from Class 1-B has thrown Class 1-A's Ojiro Mashirao out of bounds!"_

Yaoyorozu had since turned her attention to two boys I recognized from Shiozaki's team, her signature staff in hand. It slammed into one of them, but his Quirk looked like the metal version of Kirishima's hardening, and the attack hardly left a scratch. The other boy grabbed the end of her staff and used his Quirk to weld it to the ground. Before Yaoyorozu could produce another weapon, a mass of vines lifted her off her feet and gently placed her outside of the circle.

 _"Thanks to a combined effort by Class 1-B's Awase Yosetsu, Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu, and Shiozaki Ibara, Class 1-A's Yaoyorozu Momo is eliminated!"_

The vines swiveled to my direction, but recalling my initial thoughts about Shiozaki, I knew I wasn't the target. I stuck a hand out and forced Shinsō to switch off his jetpack, and he fell to the ground, barely missing the stems. Kendō tried to push her out of bounds when Tetsutetsu interrupted the attack with his Quirk fully activated.

"Ow!"

Tetsutetsu chuckled nervously, somehow stiffening even further. "I didn't mean it, Kendō—"

"Now, Hatsume-san!" I instructed.

" _Got it, boss!"_

A metal ring dropped down from the sky and tightened around his body, instantaneously forcing him to the ground. Hatsume made high density weights that inhibited the speed and stamina of the user.

"What the—"

"No hard feelings, Tetsu-kun," Kendō grinned.

Her punch sent him flying out of the ring, followed by Awase Yosetsu courtesy of her other fist. Hatsume cheered from above us, and I knew we owed her that victory.

 _"That's two for two by Kendō Itsuka, taking out both Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu and Awase Yosetsu with an assist from the Department of Support's Hatsume Mei! Man, those gadgets are so cool! Meanwhile, Asui Tsuyu has knocked out Kaibara Sen, and Todoroki Shouto eliminates both Kōda Kōji and Rikidō Satō!"_

Shinsō pulled me aside, his voice dropping to a low hiss. "What the hell was that?"

"High density weig—"

"Don't start."

"Then please, elaborate."

"I know for a fact that I didn't turn off the jet pack, but it felt like," Shinsō stopped, his eyes widening in cognizance. "You're—"

 _"I think Blondie's spotted me,"_ Hatsume cut in frantically. _"Well, I see, like, five blonds, but I specifically mean the one that looks like an angry puppy—"_

Kendō spared me a glance and firmly nodded her head. "Go ahead, Higuchi-san, I'll take care of Shiozaki."

"Shinsō, help her," I said, gathering an abundance of water from the moisture in the air and the remains of Todoroki's ice. "Hatsume-san, can you get a hold of me as soon as I get up there?"

 _"No problem! Just so you know, though, um, he's definitely glaring at me now."_

The streak of yellow careening towards her confirm her suspicions enough. Bakugou extended an open palm, but I intercepted the attack with a burst of liquid and used a geyser to propel myself up. Crimson met crimson as the blond all but glowered at me.

"Get the fuck out of my way, Guppy!"

"In a second!"

With a flick of my wrist, I trapped his hands in blocks of ice. Bakugou blasted through the restraints within seconds, but I grabbed onto the wires Hatsume brandished towards me, and she swiftly pulled me out of his way.

 _"In a magnificent turn of events, Shinsō Hitoshi from the Department of General Education has somehow thrown Shiozaki Ibara from Class 1-B of the Hero Course out of bounds!"_

Aizawa-sensei probably rolled his eyes. _"Don't be so dramatic."_

"Subtle," I grinned, untangling myself from the wires as Hatsume placed me back on my feet.

I could've sworn I heard Shinsō smirk through the transceiver. _"I'm amazed he even knew my name."_

 _"Tokoyami Fumikage knocks Jirō Kyoka and Iida Tenya out of the circle, while Bakugou Katsuki sweeps a whopping three students from Class 1-B: Kuroiroi Shihai, Tsuburaba Kosei, and Monoma Neito!"_

The last name took me by surprise, but if Monoma managed to catch Bakugou after my previous stunt and then pissed him off on top of that, it couldn't be helped.

 _"In a battle between two recommended students, Class 1-A's Todoroki Shouto emerges victorious over Honenuki Jūzo from Class 1-B!"_

At that announcement, I counted seventeen eliminated students. Of those seventeen, Shinsō and Hatsume remained extremely high risk targets. I inchined in front of the latter at the thought.

 _"Uraraka Ochako takes out Kaminari Denki, Asui Tsuyu wipes out Shōji Mezō, and Kirishima Eijrō knocks out Ashido Mina! A big win for Team Midoriya as we dwindle down to our final few!"_

"'Big win,' my ass!" Bakugou growled.

I heard Ochako gasp. "Deku-kun, move!"

My eyes widened as the brunette shoved Deku aside and took the brunt of the blast inflicted by the blond. Bakugou looked equally dumbstruck to see her in front of him, but I had a feeling it had more to do with the utter resolution in her expression than the fact that he accidentally shot her out of bounds instead.

 _"Uraraka Ochako takes a hit for Midoriya Izuku!"_

A long line of white tape shot out from my right before Present Mic even finished his sentence, grabbing onto a certain strawberry blond. Kendō let out a sharp gasp when he flung her in a random direction, but Hatsume managed to latch on with her wires, locking her and Sero in a game of tug-a-war. I moved to help her when another member of our team stepped forward.

"Let her go," Shinsō ordered.

"No can d—"

I watched as Sero's pupils turned white, his grip on Kendō subsequently slacking enough for Hatsume to pull her to safety. Shinsō crossed his arms, smirking.

"Get out of the circle."

My head whipped towards him when he gave the command. Despite him standing a few feet away, I heard him clearly even without the transceiver, and by the looks of it, so did everyone else. The stadium slowed to a silent stop, watching with wide eyes as Sero obediently made his way out of the circle.

"Why the fuck are you listening to him, sticky shit?" Bakugou snapped, brows furrowed.

I heard a couple of my classmates exclaiming variations of the same thing as Sero stepped out of the outer rim. His pupils regained their usual color as Shinsō released his hold on him, but the damage was done. Murmurs erupted throughout the crowd, both in the stands and amongst the eliminated students staring at us from the sidelines. I thought about the consequences and bolted.

"Why did you do that?" I asked, tugging on Shinsō's sleeve to get his attention. "The final round is going to be even harder for you now that everyone knows what you can—

"How is that kid not in the Hero Course?"

"I wish my Quirk was that strong!"

"Right? That was so cool!"

I stilled, eyes wide as I whispered, "Oh."

"We both know I'll be the first person eliminated in the final round," Shinsō said, looking at the exuberant crowd in unconcealed wonder. "Thanks, though."

"For what?"

"Believing."

"You did plenty of that on your own," I said, hands falling back to my sides. "Didn't I say that's what made me choose you in the first place?"

"You did say that, didn't you?" Shinsō smirked, lifting his hand to give me a salute. "Knock 'em dead for me, Higuchi."

I blinked at him, perplexed at the action and suddenly anxious when he started taking a few steps backwards. His words repeated in my head, but he stepped out of the circle, and I lost all thought about the situation. Present Mic's subsequent screech just barely snapped me out of it.

 _"I can't believe it!_ _Shinsō Hitoshi has forfeited his spot in the top eight!"_

"That's my cue!" Hatsume chirped.

My jaw nearly hit the ground as she skipped out of the ring. "What just happened?"

"Hatsume-san?" Kendō exclaimed, looking as thoroughly appalled as I felt. "You too?"

"I never cared about winning," Hatsume said, grinning ear to ear. "I just wanted to showcase my babies, and I think we've managed to do a pretty great job at that. No reason for me to stick around!"

" _Hatsume Mei forfeits as well!"_

Kendō and I exchanged bewildered glances before regarding our two teammates with incredulous stares. Excited chatter filled the stadium only seconds earlier thanks to Shinsō's display of his Quirk, but the crowd had since succumbed to a stunned silence. Present Mic broke through crickets with his final rescript.

 _"There you have it, folks! The second round of the Sports Festival has officially come to a close! I give you your finalists: Midoriya Izuku, Asui Tsuyu, Kirishima Ejirō, Higuchi Reiko, Kendō Itsuka, Todoroki Shouto, Tokoyami Fumikage, and Bakugou Katsuki!"_

The audience promptly burst into applause.

* * *

Present Mic called for an hour long intermission after the last round. Aside from mandatory bathroom breaks, most of the audience used that time to explore the festival going on outside, while students, eliminated or otherwise, spent the sixty minutes eating lunch and catching up in the private cafeteria inside the stadium.

Yūei provided finalists with individual waiting rooms, and the second I stepped into mine, I collapsed onto the couch. It wasn't until I heard an incessant pounding at the door did I even realize I had fallen asleep. Groaning, I uncapped one of the water bottles provided for us and used the liquid to open the door.

"About damn time," Bakugou said, crimson eyes rolling to the back of his head when he noticed the droplets on the doorknob. "How fucking lazy are you?"

"I just woke up," I grumbled, not even bothering to sit up properly. "What do you want?"

"Do you even know what time it is?"

"Time for you to get out?"

"Intermission is almost over, dipshit," Bakugou said, his mouth curving into something between a scowl and a sneer. "There's only fifteen minutes left and Two-Bit wouldn't shut up until I made sure you eat."

Now that had me jolting forward in alarm. Kayama-sensei told us to meet back on the field at two, and the clock above the door said I had about fifteen minutes left to spare. Suddenly, a loud rumbling sounded throughout the room, and both of us knew exactly where it came from.

"Here," Bakugou snorted, chucking a paper bag at me. I caught it with ease and peered inside to find a burger and fries. "It's not your shitty ramen, but you better finish it, anyway."

"How do you know I like ramen?"

"It's all you fucking eat."

"That's fair."

"Whatever," Bakugou said, rolling his eyes. "Don't be late or Vice Prez is going to blow a fuse. I don't even want to think about what she'd pull out of her damn arm to beat our asses."

"Yaoyorozu is nice, you know," I said, biting into a fry. "Then again, so is Ochako, and half the time you forget she's in our class."

"That Uraraka chick?"

"That's a first."

"What?"

"I don't think you've called anyone by their name before."

"She pisses me off," Bakugou said bluntly, frowning. "Shitty Face and Shitty Hair keep shitting on me for knocking out such a 'fragile girl,' but what part of her is fucking fragile, huh?"

Two aspects of this conversation felt distinctly unfamiliar. The first was the fact that Bakugou was still in the room talking to me despite having completed the task he came to do. The second wasn't so much the way he talked about Ochako, but that he even continued the topic in the first place.

If I brought up any of this to him, I had no doubt he'd be out of the door in seconds, but I kind of enjoyed having a decent conversation with him that didn't involve risk of potential injury. With that in mind, I bit my tongue and took the burger out of the bag.

"Humans tend to look at things on a surface level," I said, eating another fry. "Most people are so caught up in how innocent Ochako looks that they don't stop to think about how she's in the Hero Course at the most prestigious school in the country."

"If there's anyone people should be questioning, it's fucking Deku."

 _Don't do it, Reiko._

"Why do you hate him?"

I didn't have time to internally berate myself. His fists clenched at his sides so tightly that his knuckles seemed to turn into an unnatural white. As soon as the question escaped my mouth, Bakugou glared at me with more intensity than I had ever seen from him, his face twisted into an uncomfortable scowl.

It was obvious I was one step away from blowing another landmine, but I didn't realize just how curious I was about their relationship until the opportunity to learn more about it presented itself in this manner. Still, I didn't want to pry. I waited patiently, taking bites out of my burger as he collected his breath.

"He's a fucking loser."

"That really cleared things up."

"I fucking despise him," Bakugou said, disregarding my comment. "He's weak enough as it is, but he fucking lied to me about having a Quirk for over ten fucking years."

My ears perked up at this. "What do you mean?"

"Deky told me he didn't have a Quirk, but that's obviously not fucking true."

"That doesn't make sense," I said, frowning. "If he's been lying to you and happened to have a Quirk this whole time, then why is he so," my nose wrinkled.

"Shitty?"

"No," I paused, shrugging. "Well, _yes_ , but that just goes to show how short a time he's spent practicing if he ends up with a broken limb every time he uses it."

"I have no fucking clue," Bakugou said, suddenly plopping down on the opposite end of the couch. "He spouted some shit about how someone gave him his powers, but what kind of—"

"He said _what?_ " I interrupted, shaking my head as the gears in my mind started spinning. "I can't believe he admitted that, but it makes too much sense—"

"You actually believe him?"

"His Quirk and All Might's are so—"

" _You think All Might gave Deku his Quirk?_ "

"Before I continue, I need you to stop yelling like you think I'm delusional."

"Maybe you should just shut the fuck up," Bakugou said, gaping at me in disbelief. "That's fucking crazy! Why would the Number One Hero give a nobody that kind of fucking power?"

I thought back to the day of our apprehension test, how utterly devastated Deku felt when Aizawa-sensei told him he couldn't be a Hero. Combat training didn't turn out much better, but in hindsight, it looked like All Might wanted to test his limits for using his Quirk. At the time, I painted it a coincidence that their powers seemed so parallel to each other, but looking at things laid out with new information only confirmed the opposite.

It explained too many previously unanswered questions: why Deku had no grasp of his powers, why our teachers had such an interest him, why he couldn't tell us when or how he developed his Quirk. He probably had to keep it on a need to know basis, so much so that I wondered if Kan-oji knew, and the way he trained, the way everyone treated him, I knew Bakugou was wrong in one respect. All Might didn't just pick a nobody.

He chose a successor.

Deku received these powers, but more than that, he inherited them. Why, then, did the Number One Hero of our generation need a successor in the first place? I couldn't think of any instance in which the Symbol of Peace had been targeted so specifically aside from the incident at USJ. The motivation behind that particular ambush had to do more with elimination than extraction, but I wondered if such prominent Villains had a means of forcibly removing that power should they find out about it in the future.

"Hello?" Bakugou said, flicking a finger on my forehead. "I'm starting to believe you're actually insane."

I sat up abruptly, placing both of my hands on his shoulders. "I really, really think Deku inherited his Quirk from All Might."

"What the—"

"I'm afraid there's something bigger going on that we don't know about," I shook my head, letting him tear himself away from my grasp. "Can't know about, I should say. I just have a feeling we need to look out for Deku."

"I don't give a shit what happens to him," Bakugou scoffed, defiantly crossing his arms.

"That's a lie," I said. "I know for a fact that you won't just sit around if something happens."

"He—"

"This has nothing to do with him. It says more about you that I believe that's true. As harsh as you come across sometimes, you're not heartless. If something happened to Deku, you would try to save him, maybe not for him," I paused, reaching forward to grab a forgotten fry. "But because you want to be a Hero, and that's what Heroes do."

I offered him the chip.

"Right?"

Bakugou stared at me, crimson irises perfectly mirroring my own. It seemed like every emotion, anger or otherwise, had been wiped off his face, and for a moment, I worried that I pushed too hard, got too personal. His eyes rolled for the umpteenth time and I straightened, prepared for the worst, but he just slumped against the sofa and snatched the fry out of my hand.

"You're so goddamn annoying."

And despite everything, I laughed.

* * *

 **postscript**

i realize i'm becoming more and more invested in receiving feedback the further i stray away from canon, especially because of how nerve-wracking it is to share original content, so it would mean a lot if you let me know what you think! to everyone who continuously leaves such kind words about this story and rei, I really, really appreciate it (｡◝‿◜｡) thanks again for reading!


	10. Four Walls

No copyright infringement intended.

* * *

—

 **X. Four Walls**

—

* * *

Nine months after his disappearance, the general public presumed the Temporal Hero Rishi dead. Being so young and blissfully unaware, I didn't pay mind to such canards, but then came the conspiracy theories about how he quit on his own volition to become a Villain. I started to discern the drones of condolences coalescing into cursory whispers accusing death or treason or worse. Murmurs escalated to conversations about him and his family, and the things the public said started to make sense.

Rishi left behind a wife and a daughter, they said, and I, almost five, realized that he left behind his wife and me. According to gossip mongers, my widowed mother spiraled from the grief, and by the time I realized I couldn't escape the rumors, they showed up on every newspaper, every television screen, every block on the street with enough people to carry conversations: Rishi this, Kamino that, and their unnamed daughter somewhere in the cracks.

Higuchi Reiko was a nobody.

And I didn't mind. I liked being invisible more than I did the mere thought of strangers knowing I was the daughter of two beloved Heroes. The public cemented my parents as the most puissant pair in recent history, and their story was one for the books. Literally, in fact, as the surreptitious details of my father's case remained need-to-know and still, to this day, locked in the archives. I wasn't even a character, at least, not until it was too late.

It made sense to keep a child out of the spotlight for as long as possible. I always thought it was their way of protecting me, anonymity and the opportunity to live a normal life serving as my father's last wish and final gift. Regardless of my evanescing memories of him and the strained relationship I had with my mother, I appreciated the gesture, treasured it even, but—

 _Why is there always a_ _ **but**_ _?_

I was six when I figured out I had been kept under the radar not for my safety, but because my mother didn't want to claim me until she deemed me worthy. Her crimson eyes mirrored my own as she waited to tell the world I was her daughter in the only way she knew how. I had to prove it, as if I needed to earn the right to call myself her child.

It was patronizing and infuriating and terrifying all at once. The rumors about her became harder to ignore once they gave me a reason to excuse her actions, or maybe they gave her an excuse to justify hers, that she acted cruel because she had all but unraveled. Believing them meant believing my father was dead or a Villain, and in both cases, never coming back.

Looking at her now, perched on a railing directly below the prompter about to reveal the first matchup of the third round, I couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of resentment. I didn't grow up with a desire to be the Number One Hero. Sometimes I still wondered if I wanted that even today, but now I had friends I wanted to protect, teachers I wanted to learn from, people I wanted to save. They kept me grounded, and I just happened to hang around them long enough to stumble upon some semblance of a dream.

I wanted to be _my_ best self.

And I was ready to sacrifice the privacy we so vehemently protected all of these years to do that. These people would know me not as Rishi and Kamino's daughter or by whatever title _she_ wanted me to have. People would know me by my name, which was, at the moment, the only thing anyone saw as it appeared in big, bold letters across the monitor.

It was followed by another name that only impelled me to make this battle even more worthwhile. Upon seeing them side by side, the entire stadium roared with applause.

 _Higuchi Reiko_

 _vs._

 _Midoriya Izuku_

"Here it is, folks!" Present Mic trilled. "The first battle of the final round will be between Higuchi Reiko and Midoriya Izuku!"

A million and one thoughts zipped through my mind. I tried to register what had just happened whilst simultaneously contemplating my next step, but I could only be certain of two things at the moment: Deku was hiding something, something being his Quirk, and this time I was in on the secret.

To keep me and the rest of the world from finding out the truth, Deku would have to hold back or go all out in an attempt to end things quickly. It wouldn't have been a fair fight either way, especially since overexerting himself to the same degree he usually did guaranteed a forfeit for the second battle whether or not he won ours.

The guilt that came with that knowledge settled in my stomach uncomfortably. I would've been a total hypocrite confronting him about it after making such a point to convince myself I wouldn't, but he deserved the truth more than I did. The least I could do was tell him that I knew.

My attention shifted from the screen to the wide-eyed boy standing at the opposite end of the line. He caught my gaze instantly, green complementing red as he attempted a shy smile, somewhat uneasy withal. I returned the gesture as genuinely as I could because he deserved that, too.

"Right off the bat, huh?" Bakugou said, scoffing from beside me. "Better not take it easy on him just because you found out about his dirty little secret."

"I'm going to tell him I know."

" _What?_ "

"Maybe you should actually get your hearing checked," I suggested sportively, spinning on my heel toward the exit.

It might've been a bit brazen of me to expect him to follow, but he did, much to my consciously concealed bemusement. My nerves started to sober as the reality of us discussing a conspiracy theory we crafted out of hearsay and half-hearted observations finally sank in. Bakugou and I were gossiping. I really was a hypocrite.

"Fuck you, first of all," Bakugou said, blunt as ever. "It doesn't matter what you say to him if you don't fucking win."

"You want me to win?"

"I want Deku to lose."

"That's definitely different."

"I'm not the creep who keeps prying!"

"You're the one who told me about it!"

"Because I thought it was a shitty lie!" Bakugou all but shouted, throwing his hands above his head. "This is the dumbest fucking conversation I've ever had."

As much as I appreciated talking to him about concerns that I literally couldn't discuss with anyone else, I could feel the number of stares on us steadily rise and knew that seeing me and the blond together probably raised a few brows. I dialed down my voice to indoor settings and, not so much that he blew a proper fuse, nudged Bakugou on his side.

"Don't do anything stupid while I'm not there to roll my eyes at you," I said, unable to hide my grin when his middle finger sprung up in my direction.

Bakugou rolled his eyes for good measure, giving me a dry look before making his way inside. "Don't do anything dumb or I'll blow you the fuck up myself."

"You think everything I do is dumb."

"Did I fucking stutter?"

Despite his brashness, I found myself smiling as I stared at his retreating back. Bakugou probably thought of strategies against all of the remaining competitors. His refusal to acknowledge Deku as the winner even in a hypothetical scenario meant that I had to consider he had a plan carefully catered to me, and as if I didn't have enough to worry about, I knew I had to do the same.

Todoroki suddenly appeared beside me, his steps easily falling into rhythm with my own. He didn't say anything at first, but the way he kept peering at me from his peripheral said enough.

"I'm fine," I said.

"I didn't say anything."

"I bet you're thinking it."

"You're a mind reader now?"

"I'm saying you're pretty good at reading mine," I admitted, perhaps a little too honestly. "Three Quirks doesn't sound fair, though. I'll take it you're just absurdly good at reading people in general."

"No," Todoroki said. "Just you."

If it had been Kaminari or Mineta, I might've considered that line a painful attempt at flirting, but this was Todoroki, and Todoroki didn't flirt. The indisputable concern in his eyes more often than not meticulously masked by his ever present shield of indifference surfaced, clear and cutting and curious.

"I'll tell you about it later," I said, hesitating even further when All Might rounded the corner.

In all seriousness, I was anxious to talk to Deku about his Quirk and his relation to All Might, if he chose to elaborate on it. I wanted to tell Todoroki about the situation, but that wasn't a conversation I needed to have with him. Though I had become quite accustomed to our usual banter, raillery and all, keeping a secret like this from him almost felt like a betrayal.

Todoroki noticed my trepidation and saw my gaze locked on the Pro Hero now speaking with Deku in hushed tones. I expected him to say something, maybe nod his head, but it looked like he still had ways of surprising me.

"Here," Todoroki said, holding out a closed fist.

"What?"

"Take it."

His fingers ghosted mine as I felt him drop something into my palm, and like a broken clock, I marveled at the warmth, and then at the object he gave me, blinking rapidly in genuine surprise.

"I asked Yaoyorozu to make one earlier," Todoroki said, shrugging. "Thought it would help you get into character."

The warmth I felt no longer came from a tangible source. Heat dispersed beneath the expanse of my skin, an unfamiliar yet not unpleasant light flickering in my chest. I clutched the elastic band, a vibrant violet that dazzled beneath the sun, and breathed out a real laugh.

"Thank you, Todoroki."

* * *

The month before my sixth birthday sort of felt like a roller coaster. I wasn't really expecting to celebrate since I ended up at home alone both birthdays prior, but unbeknownst to me, I would be having a party for the first time in years. Kan-oji insisted on canceling all of his plans, official Hero business or not, and I thought nothing of it because that was just the sort of thing he would do.

My mother was done brooding and thought to introduce me to the world on my most important day. The public was ready to meet Rishi and Kamino's daughter, a spitting image of her parents in beauty and spirit. It would be grandiose in every which way, but in all truthfulness, baking cookies in our kitchen would've been more than enough to satisfy me, even if they sometimes came out terrible.

The festivities would take place in our home, and the head planner was, of course, my mother. I saw her around the house more often than I was used to in recent months, but because it had been so long, I didn't notice how distant she was with me. I paid no mind to the exasperated exhales and stiff smiles, feeling elated to simply be in her presence.

"Look, Mama!"

At almost sixteen, I was trained to be poised and pristine, but at almost six, I skipped and tripped and twirled like I didn't have a care in the world. Maybe I didn't, and maybe it was that way of thinking that made me turn out to be the opposite.

"Please cease with the cartwheels, Reiko," my mother said, arms folded tightly across her chest. "I don't need the floors scuffed up when the guests arrive."

"But I'm wearing the socks you gave me."

"And you're getting them dirty."

"Sorry, Mama," I mumbled.

My mother sighed, shaking her head. "Go change into your outfit and stay in your room until dinner starts."

I trudged up the stairs, all the while staring at my white lace socks. The bottoms of my feet had gotten a bit dusty, but I thought they looked pretty still, like the kind of stuff a princess would wear. The dress waiting in my room was even prettier, a periwinkle gown embroidered with stars, or perhaps starfish in homage to my Quirk and hometown of Kanagawa.

"Why, hello there, Miss Reiko!"

I whirled around to see a young woman casually leaning against the doorway to my room. Her teal hair cascaded down her back like a waterfall and a buoyant smile surfaced on her face when I launched myself into her arms, tackling her into a cozy hug.

"Emi!"

In the present day, Fukukado Emi was a Pro Hero and teacher at Ketsubutsu High School, but along with Kan-oji, I knew her first and foremost as one of my father's juniors and dearest friends. Emi was eighteen at the time, freshly graduated from high school and taking up a part time job as my babysitter. I didn't see her nearly as much as Kan-oji, but in hindsight, I probably spent more time with her than my own mom.

"It's been a long time, kiddo," Emi said, her arms coiling around my shoulders.

I tugged on her shirt and she crouched down, allowing me to sit on her knee. "Are you here for my birthday party?"

"Of course," she grinned, tickling my sides. I squirmed in her grasp, struggling to muffle my squeals. "Need any help getting ready?"

"Yes, please!"

I grabbed her hand and pulled her toward my vanity where a plethora of ribbons and handmade flower crowns lay strewn across the table. Emi lifted a pink bow and teasingly dangled it over my head, brushing stray baby hairs from my forehead.

"How's this?" Emi asked.

My nose wrinkled. "It doesn't match my dress."

"Good thing you take after your mom in the fashion department," she snorted, discarding the bow to the side. Her eyes found the dress hanging outside of my closet. "Blue, huh? Not surprised."

"It's pretty," I said, tracing the sleeves with a light finger.

"It'll be even prettier once you wear it," Emi sang, removing it off the hanger. "Now, come on, our birthday girl can't be late to her own soirée!"

Punctuality came much easier to me at an age where older people kept track of everything I did. Thanks to Emi, I was dressed and hopping downstairs in ten minutes tops, hair and clothes coordinated to a perfect tee.

"Thank you for the dress, Mama!" I beamed, twirling in front of her.

"It looks lovely," my mother said, tucking a flyaway behind my ear. "I hope it at least lasts until dinner without something spilling on it."

Emi frowned, shaking her head. "You're always so hard on her—"

"Are you telling me how to raise my daughter?" my mother asked, a beautiful smile tugging at her cheeks.

I watched the interaction unfold with eyes much too wary for a child. Emi had a Quirk that made people laugh, but she was more than capable of doing so without it. I always saw her smiling the same way I had grown accustomed to seeing my mother with pursed lips or a disapproving frown. The exchange of expressions on their faces, not to mention the fact that it was because of me, was disconcerting.

"I'm sorry," I blurted. "I'll wait in my room."

I didn't think about how sprinting up the stairs while wearing a frock that grazed the floor was probably _not_ the best idea until I stumbled on the last step. I gasped and clutched onto the railing to keep from falling, but my dress got caught on something in the process, causing a small tear on the bottom seam.

"Reiko."

My heart dropped.

The month leading up to the party was one I couldn't forget. So much happened and having my mother physically present throughout the whole thing was a luxury I forgot I used to have.

The party itself remained in the back of my mind for as long as I could keep it there, not so much because I considered it a bad memory, but because I didn't have many memories of it at all. I should've known as much when Kan-oji and Emi came up to my room with a cake and six candles.

"This is the best birthday ever," I said.

It was the truth if only because I was so happy to spend it with two of my favorite people, but they knew as well as I did that it could've been better. Balloons and presents and strangers I had never seen before didn't matter to me. I just wanted my mother to call, and she never did.

* * *

"How long have you known?"

A simple question, but the voice that uttered it sounded so laden with a multitude of emotions that even I struggled to form a proper response. His fists rolled tightly at his sides and I sensed the spike in perspiration that further evidenced his escalating anxiety. Deku was scared and rightfully so, but it didn't appease my own nerves any knowing he was afraid because of me.

The two of us stood in the corridor outside my waiting room. I condensed all that I found out in the last hour into a few clumsy but straightforward sentences, and while he took the news better than I expected, he still looked about ready to pass out. Guilt clawed at me even more as he sucked in a bated breath so I chucked my own nerves out of the metaphorical window and leveled with his gaze.

"I only found out today," I said.

"Kacchan told you?"

"Sort of."

"And I told him," Deku recalled, his voice fading to a whisper. "Kacchan didn't believe me."

He took the liberty of sliding against the wall until he ensconced himself on the floor, knees pressed to his chest and his shoulders hunched forward. I sat down about a foot away.

"He didn't want to believe you," I murmured, thinking back to my conversation with the blond. "I'm sure he wouldn't have mentioned it to me if he thought there was any substance to it."

"Kacchan deserves to know more than anyone," Deku said, fervently swiping at his eyes with his knuckles. For a second, I thought he might've started crying, but he looked more exhausted than near tears. "I probably owe you an explanation now."

"You don't owe me at all," I refuted firmly, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder in contrast. Dark green eyes glanced at me, hopeful in such a way that almost made me regret bringing up the subject at all. "Don't tell me anything you're not ready to talk about yet, alright?"

"You're not mad?"

"I just told you I found out your biggest secret and you're asking me if I'm mad?"

"It sounds silly when you say it like that," Deku said, lips twitching into a small smile. "I should be thanking you."

"What for?"

"I think I've wanted to tell someone for awhile now, but so much of it isn't my secret to tell, and I promised All Might I wouldn't. Don't get me wrong," Deku paused, then sighed. "I'll always be grateful. It's just lonely sometimes."

My breath hitched.

 _It's just lonely sometimes._

I was so focused on the mystery surrounding his Quirk that I didn't really put much thought about the bundles of burdens that came with harboring such an important secret. It was under different circumstances, sure, but I knew that feeling all too well. As much as I disliked the truth behind it, I could admit that for the majority of my life, I benefitted from my own secret more than anyone else. Deku was on the other end of the spectrum, protecting someone else with one that wasn't even entirely his.

Both of us had a responsibility to stay silent and keeping people at a distance was a little isolating at times. I didn't doubt it was hard. All Might had priorities as a teacher and a Hero that he couldn't ignore just because he had an apprentice no one even knew he had, and as a result, Deku had to carry that loneliness with him wherever he went.

"Was Bakugou your first friend?"

The question spilled out of my mouth before I realized I spoke, which appeared to be turning into an apparent and unfortunate habit as of late. Deku didn't look startled. I waited for a simple _yes_ or _no_ , but I suppose his response made more sense in context with our current tête-à-tête.

"Kacchan was my only friend," he said with a wistful grin.

My first thought was that Deku wouldn't be the person sitting beside me if he and Bakugou never met, and I was almost embarrassed about it because I knew it was selfish. I didn't have the right to be relieved that his suffering worked out alright in the end.

 _What if it didn't?_

I felt my chest tighten, but I wasn't sad or sorry. Maybe somewhere in between or somewhere off the grid entirely.

"Do you know who my first friend was?" I asked, tugging at the hem of my uniform. More nervous habits. "I met her on my very first day at Yūei."

"Her?"

"She asked me if I was in the class," I smiled a bit, thinking back to the first day of school only a handful of months ago. It felt like longer and like it was yesterday at the same time. "Of course I was in the class. I wore the uniform and tried to get inside the classroom. That's usually one of my pet peeves, you know, when people point out the obvious because they have nothing else to say."

Deku frowned, brows furrowed in confusion, and then all of a sudden his eyes widened in cognizance. "Uraraka-chan?"

"Yeah," I whispered like another secret. "I didn't think she and I would be friends. It seemed like it'd take a lot of work, and between you and me, I think sometimes it is, but when things get hard, I tend to give up too soon."

… _when my father left, I stopped believing he would come back; when my mother became too distant, I stopped waiting around for her; when I was alone, I didn't bother making any friends._

"My friends at Yūei," I spoke louder, more certainly now. "Ochako and Yaoyorozu, Todoroki and even Bakugou, you, especially," Deku straightened. "Because of them, because of you, I'm starting to figure out what it means to put in a little fight for the things I care about."

There was a short silence, and then came a chuckle. It was small and somewhat weary yet so utterly pure. I turned to Deku with a questioning gaze, but the sight of his smile made it difficult to keep from grinning at him in return.

"I think I get what you mean," Deku said in the midst of his laughter. "I don't have to be lonely anymore, right?"

"Something like that."

He laughed again, louder and more certainly this time, akin to my previous statement. "I'm glad you're my opponent, Rei."

"You really need to do something about the whole losing a limb every time you use your Quirk thing, but we can save that talk for after."

"I don't lose limbs," Deku protested, ducking his head sheepishly.

 _Not yet_ was what I wanted to say, but I forced myself to swallow my cynicism. I could tell this fight meant a lot to both of us, and because of that, we deserved to face each other at our absolute best. Like I said, we could deal with the consequences later.

"Don't pull your punches then," I said, lightly nudging his shoulder. "Deal?"

His fringe swept over his eyes as he nodded and gave me another smile. He stood to leave, ready to meet me again on stage, but I reached for his sleeve and tugged gently. I had one more thing I wanted to say, one more thing I wanted him to hear.

"Deku?"

"Yes, Rei?"

"I won't tell anyone," I promised.

Deku nodded, beaming now. "I know you won't."

* * *

The first thing I realized about having Deku as my opponent was that blocking his attacks would be a pain in the neck and just about every other part of my body. I had gotten much better at extracting moisture from the air, but it still took quite a bit of time to do so in large amounts.

If I wasn't careful, he was more than capable of sending me out of bounds with a flick of his finger. My best bet was to make sure he didn't have a chance to use his Quirk in the first place by keeping him occupied with close range combat. I wasn't sure about his level of proficiency in hand-to-hand, but I'd much rather take a regular punch in the face than the alternative.

The students interspersed in watch boxes placed between the audience and a short distance away sat the rest of our class with the exception of an absent Iida. I filed the observation in the back of my mind and saved it for after our match, grinning at Yaoyorozu and a waving Ochako instead. I noticed the stares from everyone else as soon as I stepped onto the field, and they felt far less comforting than the smiles from my friends.

Kan-oji was easy to spot in the stands, his arms crossed and his canines glinting even from this far away. He grinned and nodded, and I interpreted that as _good luck and kick some ass_. The jitters smoothed into a numb sort of calm shortly after that.

Inevitably my gaze drifted back to my class, absentmindedly searching for a glimpse of red and white. Todoroki sat in the first seat of the first row, and though I couldn't read his expression from where I stood, the fact that he was here seemed to provide a sense of comfort I had been sorely missing.

"Welcome to the third round of the Sports Festival!" Kayama-sensei declared, waving a red flag above her head. "The match between Higuchi Reiko and Midoriya Izuku is about to commence!"

Deku stood across from me, his feet spread and hands in position. I knew exactly what he planned to do from that stance alone and decided that I had to move even faster than usual if I wanted to stop him from doing it.

 _Beep._

 _Beep._

 _Beep._

"Begin!"

Deku lifted his arm to charge an attack. I shot forward at twice the speed and forced his blood to twist his hand behind his back. He was too heavy for me to knock out of bounds this way, but the sudden movement took him by surprise, and I used that chance to impose a succession of kicks and punches.

He dodged, albeit ham-handedly, though he managed to avoid a direct hit. And another. And _another_. I was miffed and slightly confused at how well he evaded my strikes, but it worked to my advantage. Having worked up a sweat, I finally had liquid at my immediate disposal.

My next punch collected some of the perspiration from my palms and launched them from my knuckles like a set of trench knives. He ducked in time to miss my fist, but the blades, near invisible, were unavoidable. A slit appeared on the sleeve on his uniform even as he backed away, followed by a thin line of blood dripping down his skin.

With a flick of my wrist, his blood hardened into the solid bullets I had grown accustomed to evading myself. This time, however, I had them under my control, firing persistently at the boy still managing to dodge. His uniform, ripped in a number of places, showed that he couldn't avoid them all.

 _"Higuchi Reiko starts off with an unrelenting stream of attacks!"_ Present Mic reported. _"Get it? Stream? Liquid manipulation?"_

Aizawa-sensei paused for a moment, probably to roll his eyes, but then he made a comment that rumbled every single cog in my brain.

 _"Considering how many of those bullets Higuchi fired, Midoriya is doing a good job at evading."_

I'd heard it from Kan-oji too many times before not to recognize that tone. Aizawa-sensei sounded significantly less enthusiastic about it, but I could tell he was impressed. Like, _that's my kid and I raised him right_ kind of impressed.

"Who taught you how to move like this?" I asked abruptly, swinging my fist for the umpteenth time.

Deku let out an _oof_ as he hit the ground. "I asked Aizawa-sensei last month to see if he could train me—"

"Aizawa-sensei? He can barely move himself!"

"We didn't get to do much, but I learned how to dodge pretty well," Deku winced as I nicked his other arm. "Uh, well, that's debatable."

No, it wasn't. Deku _was_ doing a good job, and that only fired me up even more. Had he not trained under All Might and Eraserhead, I might've felt bad about using him as a human punch bag, but he did, so I didn't. I collected enough liquid for my ice daggers so I gripped one in each hand and bolted forward, driving him closer and closer to the outer rim with each swipe.

And then it happened.

I didn't realize I had been sneaking glances over at those railings until I looked up and saw that she wasn't there. Her back was to me as she stood readied by the exit, but at the last moment, she turned around. My breath caught in my lungs like a strangled sort of gasp when her crimson eyes met mine. It was nanoscale reaction that didn't make any sense, and I wanted to ask why she was leaving or why—

 _Why do I care?_

The frustration I felt from not being able to land a hit on Deku in addition to the inexplicable emotions stirring as a result of my mother walking away started to spill over. I slashed his arm and Deku took the hit on purpose, using the second he could've spent dodging to bring his hand forward. In my distraction, I never even saw it coming. A formidable gust of wind knocked the breath out of my lungs and sent me flying back a few dozen feet.

 _"Midoriya finally initiates his counterattack! How will Higuchi retaliate?"_

My arms shot up just in time for me to take hold of my own blood, slowing my momentum before stopping mere inches short of the line. Deku's index finger was various shades of purple, definitely broken, and definitely far away enough to expel another gale without any more distractions to stall him.

"Smash!" Deku shouted, pulling back his middle finger.

 _I hate being right._

He stood too far away for me to control, and if I took another few seconds to move closer, I'd only be diving straight into the line of fire. All I could do was collect enough moisture to freeze my legs down, stabbing my daggers into the dirt for further stability as the tempest tore through me.

 _"Higuchi Reiko takes a direct hit!"_ Present Mic gasped in tune with a chunk of the crowd.

I blinked the dust out of my eyes and looked up to find my opponent staring at me with furrowed brows, his lips curving into a frown. The expression didn't look right on his face, and for some reason, it didn't sit too well with me either.

"What are you doing?" Deku asked.

I frowned, brows raised. "Trying not to get blown to bits?"

"Exactly," Deku said, shaking his head. "You've been on the offensive this whole time, but none of that was meant to incapacitate me. I'd be out of bounds by now if it was and I know that because I've seen you do more damage than this in the past. It's like—"

"What?" I asked, an uneasy chill slithering up my spine. It was like someone dumped a bucket of cold water on my head and left it there with how I was so utterly blindsided by his spiel. "Like what?"

"Like," Deku pursed his lips. "You're not putting any effort into the actual fight."

"Excuse me?"

"You asked me who trained me _in the middle of our fight._ If you're really doing your best, how did I even have time to respond?"

"You're the one having a full conversation with me right now," I nearly snapped, feeling a sudden burst of irritation threaten to smother my initial shock and confusion.

"You're getting angry, right? Frustrated? Everything about you is about keeping in control—your emotions, your powers, _every_ detail about _every_ situation," Deku muttered, taking a step forward. "This is your chance to let go for once, but you're just retreating further into this shell!"

He stood there, not attacking, not bothering to defend, just talking to me with that same expression on his face. This was the first time someone ever called me out on it, and for once, I had no idea what to say.

Because I knew he was right.

I liked being in control because I didn't like not knowing what was going to happen next. There had been enough of that in my life with my not knowing what happened to my father, not knowing if he was even alive, not knowing if my mother was coming home today or tomorrow or next week. I grew up with so little answers to so many questions, and my way of coping with that was to think too much and too often so I could fill in the spaces myself. Letting go was never even an option.

"I have nothing to say to you," was all I could tell him, and the whispers started again as soon as I spoke.

Hearing strangers talk about me always felt like an outer body experience. I had no control over what they said or thought, and although they never imposed their opinions to my face, I was perfectly aware of them.

It was the same for those watching us in that dome. I felt like a fish in a tank, and their comments kept tapping at the glass. The same people who wanted to see me rise waited for the moment I crumbled, and in hindsight, I was afraid that I was only going to prove them right.

"Then just tell me this," Deku said. "We had a deal. If you can't hold that promise, how can I trust you to keep the other?"

 _Ouch._

That was a low blow, but I deserved it. I told him I wouldn't hold back, insisted to everyone including myself that I would do my best and expected them to do the same. The problem was that I didn't know where to go or how to get there, and I didn't like _not knowing_ , or maybe I just didn't want to get lost in the first place. I settled by staying in the same spot, and I suppose that manifested in all of these half-truths and broken promises and a permanent seat in second place.

To be better than I was yesterday. I helped others believe in those words, but I did a terrible job of believing them myself. Instead of pushing my limits, I stopped short because what? I was afraid? Maybe I was. I wanted to be the very best version of myself, but what if this _was_ the best version? Higuchi Reiko was a nobody, and as much as I tried to convince myself otherwise, I was afraid that was all I was ever going to be.

I couldn't help but look over at the now empty spot by the railings. It dawned on me then that this fear was all consuming and I decided that my mother only made it worse. Even though I was angry at her, even though I wanted to show her I was doing fine without her, it still hurt to watch as she turned her back and left halfway during the match, and it took everything in me to admit that.

"Don't look at her."

 _What?_

"It's lonely sometimes," Deku murmured, echoing his earlier statement. "But I'm here, right? I'm here, so don't look at her. Look at _me_!"

And because I couldn't bring myself to do anything else, I looked at him.

My hair was inconceivably tangled and I had a fair share of scratches of my own, but I was conscious and I was fine. Deku had two broken fingers and bled from multiple contusions and he stared at _me_ like he thought I could be something more. It was that stare that had me staggering to my feet, a sudden wave of resolve sweeping over me as the truth to his words began to sink into my skin.

 _What am I doing?_

Years of suppressing my issues started to take its toll and it became more and more obvious to me how ignoring that was detrimental to my mental health. I still found things about myself I was critical of and perhaps I would for a long time, but—and I had never been so happy about that _but_ —for now, it was my move.

 _Don't look at her._

With a swiftness I was sure I was only capable of thanks to the adrenaline fueling my muscles, I broke free from the ice and stalked forward, breathing and feeling and _seeing_ all of the moisture surrounding me. Whirls of color sailed through the clouds and the soil and the people, susurrate like the rumors I was once so accustomed to except now the whispers felt soothing and familiar.

 _I'm here._

Those whispers merged with the murmurs reigniting the crowd. I shut my eyes, but theirs stayed wide open as they watched the particles in the air thicken into a denser mist. The vapor quickly congregated into interminable whips that enveloped my arms while the fog unfurled and scattered until it engulfed the entire arena.

 _Look at me._

 **Look** _at me._

My eyes shot open.

I lashed out a whip and Deku narrowly jumped to the side, but I used the other as a lasso to grab him by the leg. Before I could throw him out of the ring, he charged a _smash_ with his ring finger and aimed it at the ground, creating a fissure that caused me to stumble backwards and lose my grip.

Deku landed with a loud thud, but he scrambled to his feet and let fly another windstorm. I intercepted it with a tower of ice made from the water whips, and despite shattering in a matter of seconds, it acted as enough of a buffer to stifle the impact. A cocoon of liquid spun around my body, protecting me from debris as the smoke mixed with the fog and made it impossible to see.

Then came the glow, a string of lines that traveled from his knuckles all the way up to his shoulder. Another attack, but this time he used his whole, uninjured hand. He reared his arm and then pitched it forward and I could hardly see.

But the lines.

The lines were his veins, and I could see that.

I thrust my hands out, forcing his clenched hand to change direction. It wouldn't budge, and I couldn't tell if it was because he had already stockpiled his power into his fist that made it so difficult to carry, but I panicked, unable to grasp the blood that flowed through him.

"Don't pull your punches now!"

If I could've laughed, I would've, because Deku was seconds away from blasting me into oblivion and he was telling _me_ not to hold _my_ punches. I wasn't even trying for a punch. It was in those final moments did I realize maybe I should.

Curling my fingers together, I stopped trying to take hold of his blood, instead focusing on pushing and shoving it into shifting. My vision started to blur and the only thing keeping me upright was the adrenaline zipping through me, but finally, _finally_ I felt his hand twitch.

"I don't break my promises," I said, hurling my fist upward just before the hurricane broke.

The squalls came full force and so wild that the turbulence rocked the coliseum, and then suddenly, it twisted into a tornado that tore into the clouds. It brought me to my knees, gasping for oxygen as the cyclone seemed to disrupt the atmosphere completely.

That was when I felt it.

My nerves prickled like pins and needles as if forewarning me about the first drop of water before it trickled down my cheek. The massive amount of wind pressure that occurred as a result of Deku's attack created an updraft.

It was about to rain.

I toddled to my feet despite my exhaustion and looked up to find Deku struggling to do the same, his entire left arm bruised and broken. He knew as well as I did that I was as strong as I was going to get with the storm about to hit, the same as I knew that his body was capable of one more _smash_ at maximum power, even if it meant further damaging the fingers in his right hand.

 _This is where our fight ends._

Deku came to me this time, his left leg sparkling while his right arm lit up. As he pushed off the ground, unruly hair messier than ever, a crater formed at the soles of his feet. He soared through the field, his eyes blazing like a forest at sunset, and for a moment, I wondered if that meant mine looked like the sun.

And then the rain fell.

It felt as much like a gentle caress soothing my scrapes and bruises as it did a lullaby pacifying my tempestuous mind. I inhaled sharply, and the second I breathed out, the drizzle turned into a torrential downpour. There was water everywhere, so much so that by the time he was halfway to where I stood, the stadium was already flooded to my ankles.

 _You told me to look at you, but it was you who saw right through me._

Deku threw his punch.

 _It is lonely sometimes._

My hands slammed against the water.

 _I think I've wanted to tell someone that for a while now, too._

The last thing I remember before the nothingness was me, ripped apart by the wind, and him, drowning in the deluge.

* * *

The first thing I felt when I woke up was a pair of lips pressed firmly against the back of my hand. I knew it was Recovery Girl before I even opened my eyes if only because there was nothing particularly sentimental about the gesture. Then came the fatigue, a side effect of her Quirk. My whole body felt heavy, and despite having just regained consciousness, I already had trouble staying awake.

I had been to her office a handful of times, but this was the first instance where I actually needed medical attention that required her Quirk. It used the patient's stamina to speed up the healing process, and I figured I was so tired because I had been suffering from my usual overexhaustion on top of any tangible injuries I sustained from the fight.

"This is the best I can do for now," Recovery Girl said, her cane pattering against the tiles as she moved from my bedside. "Her wrist is still sprained and she doesn't have enough energy right now for me to fix it, but her vitals are doing better. I can get to work on it by the end of the day."

"That's a relief," I heard Deku exhale nearby.

"You, young man, are a different story," Recovery Girl said sternly. "This is the last time I'm going to heal any injuries like this, you hear?"

"W-What?"

"I don't want you to think you can keep this up just because I'm here to help fix everything. You're lucky you didn't inflict too much permanent damage to your hand!"

"I'm sorry," Deku mumbled. "I'm sorry, both of you."

I almost thought he meant to include me in the narrative, but then another voice, unfamiliar yet vaguely recognizable, answered.

"You wanted to help her," a man murmured. "It was very noble of you to do, Young Midoriya, but at the expense of your health, your body? I can't praise you for that."

 _Young Midoriya._

There was only one person who called him that.

"I know," Deku said, his voice trembling. "I _know_ , but that woman in the stands… I don't even think she realized it, but Rei kept looking at her."

I felt my fingers twitch as I took in his words. He was right about this, too, that I didn't realize I stole glances at my mother throughout the match. I might've denied it if the disappointment in her eyes didn't keep replaying in my mind.

"Rei is one of the strongest people I've ever met. It's… she always knows what to do or say… she's good at that stuff, but… it's not because she's just better at it than everyone else. It's because she makes an effort to understand how people think and feel."

"I didn't even… I didn't think someone like her could have any problems since she was so good at helping others with theirs," Deku admitted, chuckling sadly. "I'm… a terrible friend, right? I didn't know. But when she was staring at that woman as she turned and left, the expression on her face… I've seen it before."

"It looked like she was calling out for help," Deku breathed out, and I felt my own breath hitch at the revelation. "I wanted to help her because… she looked so lonely… and someone like Rei… doesn't deserve to feel alone."

I felt the prickle under my skin enough times to know someone in the room started to produce tears. It was with a jolt of surprise and mortification did I belatedly realize that this someone was _me_.

"Deku?" I whispered, blinking away the drops of liquid in my eyes as my pupils adjusted to the fluorescent lights.

"Rei," he gasped. "Are you feeling—"

I turned to look at him and gasped at the sight. His cuts disappeared, but bandages swathed his torso and a sling cradled his right arm. I barely registered the fact that the two of us suddenly sat in the room, suspiciously alone.

"Why did you do that? _Why_ did you do that?" I let out a humorless snort, incensed and indignant. "You're literally broken because of me."

"I'm not broken," Deku said, his tired eyes blazing once again. "I'm not. Do you remember our first day at Yūei? The day we took the apprehension test?"

I wanted to tell him _no, idiot, don't change the subject now_ , but since he wouldn't let me speak otherwise, I reluctantly nodded in capitulation.

"Aizawa-sensei wanted to fail me."

"But he didn't—"

"I didn't know that," Deku said, furiously shaking his head. " _You_ didn't know that, but you stood up for me, anyway. The next day, you said I looked nice in my uniform and told me I could call you Rei, and then you jumped in between me and Kacchan, saved us from that collapsing building—"

"Where are you going with this?" I asked, blinking even more as the tears kept threatening to spill and keep spilling.

 _Why am I crying?_

"You nominated Iida-kun as Class Representative, encourage Uraraka-chan constantly, got Kacchan to laugh," Deku chuckled a little in disbelief himself. "You make Yaoyorozu-san smile and understand Todoroki-kun better than anyone! You even picked those people to be on your team even though one is from our rival class, one is someone you barely know, and one is someone you've never met before in your life!"

 _Why are you saying these things?_

"You see the best and worst in people, but not once have I felt less than what I am, flaws and all, because you make me— _us_ —feel like what we are, _as_ we are is enough."

 _I…_

"You're a good friend, Rei," Deku said, beaming now as he had during our conversation before our match. "I wouldn't have done anything differently if it means getting you to see that to me, to all of us, you're somebody important."

 _Somebody important…_

The pins and needles came back again, except this time I could say for certain that it had nothing to do with my Quirk. For the umpteenth time, I was speechless, and truth be told I didn't know how to feel about it. Not knowing was one thing, but not knowing what to say when words happened to be the only thing I was good at was an aching reminder that sometimes words weren't enough.

"I'm about to cry, you know," I mumbled.

Deku blinked at me in bewilderment. "You've, um, been crying, Rei."

"Who's fault is that?"

"S-Sorry…!"

 _Deflect._

 _Deflect._

 _ **Deflect.**_

I mustered a smile, and the sudden shift in attitude seemed to catch him off guard, but his shoulders quickly relaxed at the sight of me looking somewhat okay.

"Thank you, Deku."

 _I wish I could believe you._

* * *

 **postscript**

this probably marks the start of rei starting to unravel. if you haven't already noticed, she's sort of trapped in this cycle of wanting to be better and feeling like this _is_ the best she can be. It's not that she doesn't appreciate what midoriya tried to do for her, in fact, it's the total opposite; she cries because she's so overwhelmed at how much he believes in her and how she wishes so desperately that she can believe in herself the same way.

good thing she has such great friends to depend on, you know, once she learns how to be a little more emotionally available! i think one of the most rewarding reviews to read is when people tell me how much they love rei's relationships with her friends be it todoroki or bakugou (an apparent fan favorite) or uraraka or kan-oji. definitely a lot of deku bonding here, but feel free to let me know who else you want to see rei interact with more! x is by far the most difficult chapter i've written to date so i'd love to hear what you all think. if you can guess what the hair tie alludes to—well i have nothing to give you but it'll probably make that scene all the more emotional when i say the song i had in mind the first time todoroki used his flames is _the dragon boy_ ꒰⁎ᵉ̷͈ ॣ꒵ ॢᵉ̷͈⁎꒱໊

as always, thank you for reading!


	11. Prelude and Fugue

No copyright infringement intended.

* * *

—

 **XI. Prelude and Fugue**

—

* * *

There was blood on his hands.

His mind was in a haze and all he saw was a field of bodies, beaten and battered and bloody. He heard the sound of his labored breathing and his lungs slowly caving in, smelled the stench of death and decay, felt the liquid on his hands, slowly dripping down from his wrists to his fingertips and onto the ground, staining the dirt, fingers numb and skin stretching over his knuckles, raw and peeling and red.

The clock kept ticking long after he noticed the pain, and inevitably came the realization. His fault. He killed them. He was a killer, a murderer, and he didn't mean to do it, didn't even know how it happened or why, _why_? He waited for his punishment, waited for more blood, his blood, but nothing happened. Hours passed and he was exhausted, no signs of sheep. And so he counted the bodies.

Dozens of them, twenty, thirty, forty. Fifty-five. Seventy-two. Eighty-five. Ninety-six. He wondered if he was meant to be the hundredth, and for a moment he considered doing the job himself. It was his last thought before he stirred from his slumber.

* * *

"Who's your next opponent?"

My voice trailed off at the end of my question like a sad diminuendo, but by the time I realized the implications of my inquiry, the damage was already done. Inwardly cursing at my carelessness, I willed any and all self-deprecating thoughts to stay simmering instead of spilling over as if that would be enough for me to save face.

"I don't have a next opponent," Deku said.

In contrast to his usual rambling, he articulated his words slowly, deliberately, and it felt like we stood on eggshells or broken glass. My thoughts came in currents, _no, that can't be right, I couldn't have beat you, you're lying,_ crashing against the coast, and the itch to stay underwater overwhelmingly overpowered any motivation to swim.

Maybe if I had been speaking to someone else, I might've gotten away with saying it was a slip of the tongue. As I struggled to keep my eyes leveled with his, all I could think was that Deku wouldn't let this slide. He stared at me for a moment longer than necessary, undoubtedly coming to the same conclusion I did: no one told me who won our match.

"You must've won," I said, smiling. "And I'm glad you did."

Hearing myself tell a lie always felt like an outer body experience. I didn't sound or speak any differently, and that was precisely what made it so uncomfortable. Just because I wasn't honest with my friend or myself didn't mean I couldn't fool us into thinking I was, but lies that felt like truths turned out to be the most dangerous. Now I didn't know if I wanted to believe in his or mine.

"It was such a close call that they had to play back the footage at a quarter speed," Deku said. "I won because you got knocked out of bounds a split-second before I did."

Relief and disappointment sat on my shoulders like an angel and the devil as his explanation confirmed my initial assumption. I cleared my throat in an effort to stall my response, conflicting emotions making it difficult to maintain a casual tone, but I wasn't even sure what I wanted to get away from. The truth, but which truth? That I wanted him to win because I knew I didn't deserve it? Or that I wanted to win in spite of that?

"But I'm serious about not having another opponent," Deku said, his gaze unwavering. "Recovery Girl said my injuries are too severe, which means you can—"

"No."

"Rei—"

"I'm not taking your spot in the finals," I interrupted, suddenly drained.

Deku opened his mouth to reply, but I had since laid down and turned to face away from him. He sighed and I inhaled sharply, feeling guilty because I was frustrated and frustrated because I was guilty.

Deku won.

And he should've been proud, and happy, and excited, but here he was coddling me, trying to make sure that I didn't feel bad about losing, even going as far as giving me another chance to fight. Deku pitied me, and I didn't blame him. I was a mess for stupid reasons and he was forced to sweep up the pieces on and off the battlefield.

His attempt at a pep talk fueled me enough to carry out the rest of our match, but now that I didn't have any distractions, I had no choice but to listen to the merciless voice in my head, louder than ever before. The one that cut through all the others didn't sound like him, not like a Villain, not even like my mother. I heard my own voice, more certain than ever before.

 _You were never meant for this, Reiko._

* * *

Like a true coward, I bolted as soon as Recovery Girl discharged us. An overwhelming sense of exhaustion slowed my movements, stubbornly rooting itself into my limbs after having had hours to steep in my system. I was tired of something, maybe everything. Maybe I was just acting like another dramatic teenager. I didn't care to know the difference, but at this point I wasn't even sure there was one in the first place. I just wanted to know where it all started.

Maybe it began with six year old me asking when my father was coming home, and in the same breath, wondering if I would ever see him again, twirling in pretty dresses and then tucking myself in quiet corners less than a year later. It continued with curt smiles and conscious, calculating decisions to make those around me comfortable despite my own stiff shoulders and cautious eyes. And then it faded like a dreamless sleep the same way I drifted from people and places and perhaps myself.

Higuchi Reiko was perfectly crafted. To the blond and his searing temper, she was snippy and straightforward. To the girl who needed a little more confidence in herself, she was supportive, reliable. To the boy struggling with new responsibilities, she was strong and persistent. To the boy who lived with responsibility his whole life, she was a bit clumsy, easily flustered.

But who was she, really?

The hallways seemed longer and more unforgiving than I remembered. I had no idea where I was headed, figuratively and literally lost at the moment, but somehow my feet dragged forward. Each step I took caused the walls to cave in closer and closer and _closer_ —

 _No._

 _No._

 _This is—_

And then there was darkness.

To my surprise, more so than any other time this happened, _she_ suddenly stood in front of me. Her smile was as empty as the space around us, but something unfamiliar in her expression made me halt the accusations at the tip of my tongue.

 _I know you don't want to see me right now_ , _but_ _it is very important you listen to what I have to say._

Her voice sounded calm and collected, and I bristled in brewing irritation. It was the first time I had ever seen another person in Shihoshi and the fact that it had to be my mother already set me on edge, but knowing she was so unbothered while I unraveled at the seams made me increasingly angry.

"Where are you?" I asked.

 _Someone is coming to see you._ _No matter what he asks, tell him the truth. He will know if you lie._

"What are you talking about?"

 _Refrain only from speaking about this conversation, and do not trust the things he says about me._

"You're not making any sense—"

 _This is the best I can do for you right now. Remember what I said, Reiko, and please… be safe._

* * *

Gasping, I fell to my knees.

My mother's Quirk had roughly a mile range, and for her to use it on me meant that she was nearby, yet apparently not close enough. I wanted to ask her why she couldn't have spoken to me in person, why she couldn't have stuck around long enough to get that far, but she severed the connection before I could say anything else.

I felt an urge to scream if only to disrupt the silence. It was ironic that it perturbed me at all considering the number of times I wished for her to stop littering whispers in my mind, but I supposed habituation made it difficult to grasp the sudden absence of sound when it was all I knew.

"Are you alright, miss?"

 _Someone is coming to see you._

I turned around to see a man wearing an overcoat and a matching fedora staring at me in concern. Nodding, I stood up, trembling knees reminiscent of a newborn calf. As if his outfit didn't already scream the textbook definition of detective, he stuck a gloved hand into his jacket pocket and pulled out a shiny police badge.

"My name is Tsukauchi Naomasa," the man said, tipping his hat forward. "Are you Higuchi Reiko?"

My breath caught in my throat, forcing me to respond with another nod. I recalled my conversation with my mother just seconds before his arrival and knew she meant to warn me about him, but the fact that she was telling the truth in the first place took precedence among my growing list of concerns.

"Is there something I can help you with?" I asked, burying any ill feelings under a mask of indifference.

Tsukauchi offered a kind, tired smile. "Perhaps it's best if we speak in private."

"I have to get back to my classmates soon," I said tersely, almost flinching as I thought back to seeing Yaoyorozu and Ochako in the stands. "There's no one else here. If it's not a problem, I'd rather we had this conversation right now."

"I'm not sure that's wise—"

The irritation was boiling at this rate. A detective from the Police Force was here. He knew my name. Wanted to speak to me in private. Avoided eye contact. Belatedly, I felt a sense of foreboding, which quickly turned into rising panic as I pieced together the tell-tale signs of bad news.

"What happened?" I demanded.

Tsukauchi stared at me and I fought the urge to duck my head. His expression reminded me too much of Deku, and I wondered if that meant he could read me the same way despite being a stranger I had just met.

"If you insist," Tsukauchi relented, sighing. "There are a few details I'm not allowed to disclose out in the open like this, but…"

"I don't mind the short version."

"An attack was reported in Hosu City earlier today," Tsukauchi said, his voice hushed. "Have you heard of the Hero Killer?"

Brows furrowed, I nodded. "Did—"

"No," he said. "Not this time. However," I sucked in a breath, nails digging into my skin. "The Pro Hero Ingenium was fatally injured and is currently in critical condition."

"Ingenium," I echoed, feeling my palms begin to sweat. "His surname—"

"I'm afraid that's one of the things I can't disclose to you," Tsukauchi said, tugging on the brim of his hat. "But I wouldn't be surprised if you were already familiar with it."

I remember glancing at the viewing box where my class sat before my match against Deku and noting that Iida was absent from the crowd. It felt like so long ago, but even earlier was a conversation with Kan-oji that hit me like a ton of bricks.

" _A friend of mine has an engine Quirk."_

" _Sounds like Ingenium."_

" _Ingenium?"_

" _You didn't think you were the only one related to Pro Heroes, did you?"_

"That's terrible," I murmured, fists clenching at my sides. "Is Iida," I paused. "My classmate, I mean, Iida Tenya—"

Tsukauchi offered another small smile. "He left a couple of hours ago to be with his family, yes."

"So, he's safe?"

"Yes."

"Then why are you telling me about this?"

Tsukauchi didn't say anything for a moment. His silence only made me angrier, but I knew I wasn't mad at him, nor was I upset about how little I knew about the situation. I recognized these emotions—I was worried, frightened, and _angry_ because I felt helpless.

"When was the last time you saw your mother?" Tsukauchi asked.

The arbitrariness of his question sent me reeling, but I reminded myself of the advice said woman gave me only minutes prior and tried to shake off the surprise.

 _He will know if you lie._

"Today."

"And did she appear to act any differently than usual?"

"No," I said, standing a little straighter. "I only caught a glimpse of her during my last match, but she left before it was over."

In actual truth, my answer was _yes_ , she was acting strange, but I couldn't explain why unless I told him about the cryptic conversation in Shihoshi, which my mother specifically instructed me not to do whilst telling me to answer everything honestly. What now?

"I see," he mumbled.

My eyes narrowed. "Is she hurt?"

"She's fine," Tsukauchi said, adjusting his hat. A nervous tick, I could tell, but that begged the question _what is he so anxious about?_ "That I know of—"

"That you _know_ of?"

"The details—"

"I don't care about the details," I blurted, fingers itching to pull on something, a nervous habit of my own. "Just tell me what happened, please."

 _Don't trust him._

"Miss Higuchi," Tsukauchi said, inclining his head. "We have reason to believe your mother was involved in the attack."

* * *

"You look like shit."

I didn't say anything as I sat down in an empty seat in front of the scowling blond. It took longer than expected to find the viewing box, and now that I was here, I almost wished I hadn't come. Yaoyorozu glanced at me, her eyes sharper and more perceptive than my own, but I wasn't another puzzle she needed to solve. Despite her intelligence, she wasn't Deku, who saw me cry, nor was she Detective Tsukauchi, who could only watch as I shut down completely.

"You've been gone for awhile," Yaoyorozu murmured, her hand rising to my shoulder. "I was worried. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

Smiles and _I'm fines_ were exhausting when you didn't mean them. I was so accustomed to producing them on command that it was hard to tell when I genuinely felt happy about something as opposed to grinning only because I decided the situation called for it. People saw me the way I wanted them to see me, but after what I had just been told on top of everything else that happened today, I grappled to maintain the façade.

My mother was a suspect in the attempted murder of a highly esteemed fellow Hero. Her fingerprints appeared all over the crime scene and surveillance footage from a back alley security camera showed her in the same spot authorities found Ingenium moments before the attack. However, she wasn't shown to have been directly part of it, and so far no solid evidence proved as much.

It was the only reason every news station in the country didn't headline the story, but those on the case already believed she was culpable to an extent since she went on the run. The Number Three Hero acting as an accomplice to the Hero Killer. Even if the public practiced the concept of innocent until proven guilty, the press was far less forgiving, and I knew they would have an absolute field day once they found out.

Despite all of the people I had grown attached to in recent months offering me some semblance of comfort, I was devoid of any real emotion. Tsukauchi offered to take me home and have Kan-oji stay with me until this was all sorted out, but I couldn't be in that house knowing my parents vanished and I was left alone to wait and wither.

I knew my friends wouldn't let me deal with this by myself, and that was part of why I regretted sticking around. I couldn't do that to them. Not when somewhere out there, Iida and his older brother suffered in their own right. The disappearance of my father so many years ago and the fresh wounds from my recent breakdown made it seem like the worst had happened, but I had no way to prepare for something like this, and I felt like I was about to burst.

It was impossible to think about these things without my breath getting caught in my throat, caging words and by extension any means of justifying them in a cavern of doubt. What would happen to me now? I didn't know who to trust, what to believe, what to do, and it all started to catch up.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Ochako asked, gently tugging on my sleeve.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

The brunette drew back at my response, her grip on my uniform slacking as she stared at me in alarm. I frowned, befuddled, at how she looked at me like I had poured a glass of water on her head.

"You're crying, Rei!" she said, horrified.

It would've taken me a minute to comprehend what she said if not for the sharp gasp that came from my other side, but I still realized too late that her outburst had caught the attention of everyone present from our class. My heart thumped painfully in my chest as I forced another smile.

"I'm fine," I repeated, holding a hand out to stop her and using the other to swipe at my cheeks. "I'm fine, I'm just tired, I promise."

And then I laughed.

Because I was a walking cliché, because I was a mess, because I was a liar? I didn't know. All I could discern was the hand clamped on my wrist, tighter now like she was afraid I was going to disappear the same way my father did. Not that she knew about that.

Nor was there anything she could do to change the fact that I was now completely and utterly alone.

 _But…_

 _I don't want to be alone._

My chuckles, at some point, had turned into hiccups, which quickly expanded into heaving gulps of air. I felt the blood pounding in my ears, thrumming in tune with the palpitations rattling against my ribcage like an imprisoned animal clawing at its cage. I was trapped, and through it all, a voice in my head kept telling me everything I didn't want to hear.

 _You're dying. You're dying. This is what death feels like, and now you're dying alone._

I barely managed to take note of the arms circling around me or the fingers tangling in my hair. It felt like a ghost, lingering, and then I started breathing even harder. Each touch became more tangible, more real, and it made me more frantic by the second.

"Quickly, someone get her water!" came a clipped command. "Don't crowd! She's having a panic attack! Breathe, Reiko, _breathe_."

 _Breathe._

 _Breathe._

 _Breathe._

My skin was on fire, burning in patches throughout my body. And then I was moving, rocking back and forth at a steady pace until the flames began to subside and all that remained was a warmth that curled protectively around me.

 _Breathe…_

I wasn't sure how long it lasted, how long it took to settle down. My hands stopped shaking enough for me to blindly reach for something to hold, but my heart still stuttered wildly, erratically. I let my head fall between my knees and breathed, in and out and in and out.

"That's it," Yaoyorozu murmured, still stroking my hair. "You're okay, Reiko, just keep breathing."

A hand, blurry but recognizably a hand, held out a bottle of water. I glanced up through my lashes, blinking rapidly at the frowning blond in front of me. Ochako stepped forward to remove the cap, and for once, Bakugou didn't protest as she stood beside him.

"This should help," she offered along with a timid smile.

The plastic was feather light in my grasp. I assumed she used her Quirk on it. Grateful, I attempted to match her smile, but looked and felt more like a grimace when I failed to maintain my grip.

"I just told All Might," Deku said, huffing as he returned to the box. "He's going to get Kan-sensei now."

He didn't look quite as shaken up as the others, probably because he had already helped me through a milder episode not long ago, but the worry was evident in the creases on his forehead. The only response I could give him was a limp nod.

It felt stuffy now that I had all these extra bodies hovering over me. Through my haze, I noticed that the heat seemed to magnify in one spot. I didn't have to look to know where or who it came from, but I found that I wanted to see him, and so I turned to my right.

His hair was unusually messy and a light bruise on his left cheek might've made me raise a brow if I had the energy to lift one. Like Deku, he was panting as if he had rushed to get here, and vaguely, I recalled that he had just defeated Tokoyami when I first arrived at the viewing box.

Todoroki stared at me, but he didn't say anything and neither did I. In the midst of the silence, I realized that the rest of my classmates peered at us with various degrees of concern, simultaneously shielding me from any prying eyes elsewhere in the stadium.

 _You're all…_

There remained a deep sense of impending doom tucked beneath the layers of calm, but I couldn't be bothered to entertain the thought. In that moment, I was surrounded by my friends, and for now, that was enough.

* * *

The first thing Kan-oji did when he saw me was pat my head. If I wasn't already exhausted, I might've burst into tears on the spot, but I was running on empty, and the most I could do was tackle him into a much needed hug.

"I'm here, kid," Kan-oji said.

All Might had arrived shortly after I settled down and guided me to one of the many lounges provided by the stadium. He and the detective stood by the doorway, patiently watching my reunion with my guardian. It was then did I remember the circumstances that brought us together and begrudgingly pulled away.

"What's going to happen to me?" I asked.

"Nothing, if I can help it," Kan-oji said, ruffling my hair. "I've been granted temporary custody."

"That's good," I breathed out, half-heartedly batting at his hand. "That's really good. I don't think I can be by myself right now."

"Pardon me," Tsukauchi chimed in, tilting his hat in my direction again. An apology of sorts this time. "I'd like to say I'm sorry, Miss Higuchi. I should've been more careful about how I told you."

"It's part of the job," I told him quietly.

"You will be the first to know of any developments. If there's anything I can do, please don't hesitate to call. All Might knows how to reach me."

"I, too, will help any way I can, Young Higuchi," All Might said, looking uncharacteristically somber.

"I'll buy you some ice cream after the award ceremony," Kan-oji added, lightly nudging my shoulder. The world tumbled down and he still tried to act normal. I appreciated the gesture more than he could know. "That's not going to be a thing, though, got it?"

"Got it," I said, lips twitching into a fleeting, lifeless smile.

It was ironic that I spent a month training for something that only lasted a few hours. Granted, it felt like days, even weeks since I stood at the start line waiting for the obstacle race to begin, and now I was about to miss the rest of the third round. I couldn't tell if I was happy or sad that it was over, hoping to put everything behind me, yet afraid of what would happen when I woke up the next morning. I suppose I would just have to endure it.

 _For now._

Like a storm, the Sports Festival came and went.

* * *

It was meant to be a routine patrol, just a quick run around the neighborhood and then a circle around the perimeter of their home for good measure. There had been a sudden influx of crimes in those days, and with the most dangerous Villain in the country still at large, Mikoto figured it was better to be safe than sorry. Her husband, always so stubborn, insisted on adopting the chore in her stead.

"I'll be home by dinner," he said.

He was never late.

Which is why she should've known or at least had her doubts when he didn't arrive precisely at eight like he did every night. The Temporal Hero Rishi was always on time because he _was_ time, in a way, but having a toddler on the cusp of developing her own Quirk took most of her own spare minutes and attention to notice.

An hour passed and then two and it was only when Mikoto noticed their daughter's giggles start to bounce off the empty walls of their home did she realize her husband had yet to return. Maybe if she had been worried earlier, she would later torture herself, things might've turned out differently.

It was hard to say what happened next, much less explain the _hows_ and _whys_ even ten years down the line. Her daughter, sweet, innocent Reiko, had been strangely in tune with the incoming storm, happily skipping around the house one minute only to fall silent in the next, the same way the skies shifted in preparation for the rain. In that split-second, Mikoto felt something within her break.

Then came the explosion.

No more than ten kilometers away from their front door, if she had to guess, with a blast radius of about a quarter of that size. The perks of having a spacial Quirk included being quite adept at direction. It was far away enough to be a coincidence, but considering who she and her husband were and the sense of dread she had been fighting to subdue, she knew it couldn't be that.

As the seconds dragged forward, the sensation got worse. Mikoto set up a barrier concealing their house from the outside, dome like in structure and making sure their home was significantly more difficult to find. Just another precaution, though she didn't have an inkling of who would be trying to locate them in the first place.

 _Better to be safe than sorry._

A mantra of sorts, but it didn't matter. Her head started pounding almost as loud as her heart, the very essence of her husband seemingly vacating the space in her chest. It was like he was here and then he wasn't. There was no way to describe the feeling, not pain or anger or grief— _not yet, at least_ —because it was like any proof of his existence had, for one incredibly long minute, simply vanished, forgotten.

For some reason, Mikoto remembered the first time they met. As a product of Quirk marriage, her idea of love was unconventional, almost tainted. And then a few months into her first year of high school, a boy, still quite mischievous at the time, bumped into her on the way to class. It peeved her, but he immediately apologized, sheepish, smiling.

His smile.

The image of it flashed in her mind, and to her horror, she couldn't place a name to the face. Ticking by were the seconds and her sanity, and then she finally, _finally_ remembered everything else, his likes, dislikes, the musk that lingered on his collar, a cowl lick at the top of his head, the way he made their daughter laugh. And his smile, g _od_ , how she missed his smile.

Had she been more careful, he would have been thirty-six and healthy, telling her that she needed to lighten up, whispering every night when he thought she was asleep how blessed he was to be with her and their beautiful baby. He would have remained the Number Three Hero, celebrated by the public, idolized by the world.

He would have been home by dinner.

It continued to haunt her over a decade after the first drop of water fell. Mikoto couldn't bear to sit through another meal without being reminded that he was never going to come home so she skipped them until she could no longer bear to stay in their house at all. His absence pained her almost as much as it hurt to be apart from her other beloved.

Reiko had developed her Quirk that day, the ability to bend fluid at will. The only time Mikoto had felt prouder as a mother was the day she was born. But although her daughter had the power to control liquid of any substance, Reiko had a particularly strong affinity for water, and that—that reminded Mikoto too much of the rain.

 _Don't disappoint me, Reiko_ , she said often, and unspoken was _I cannot bear to lose you as well._

Perhaps it was an omen for what else was to come, but she was too weak to stomach it, and she couldn't afford to take any more chances. And so Kobayashi Mikoto was now the Number Three Hero Kamino, widowed and a single parent to a daughter who deserved to grow up in a safer world—and she would do _everything_ in her power to make sure that dream turned into reality.

"The whole damn Police Force thinks you've defected just like your husband," a gruff voice said, interrupting her reverie.

Mikoto pursed her lips. "I needed information."

"From a prolific serial killer?"

"From an ex-vigilante."

"What, Pros can't help you?" the man scoffed, crossing his arms. "He tried to kill me once, too, you know."

The two of them stood in an alley not unlike the one she was in earlier that day, dingy and dirty and hidden in plain sight from the main streets. Night was falling, concealing them in shadows. For her, of course, there was little to fear from the darkness.

"I'm aware," she said dryly.

"Worth leaving your kid behind?

"Don't bring my family into this," Mikoto snapped, her eyes narrowing. "I've got the name of a supplier and I plan on paying them a visit soon. No one can know about her."

It was a threat and they both knew it. He clicked his tongue and jerked his head to the side, his way of acknowledging the meaning ingrained in her words. Mikoto exhaled, but she was far from relaxed, if not more tense than she had been.

"Yūei is starting internships next week," she said, flipping the hood of her new costume over her head. "Keep an eye out for her, Knuckleduster."

The man grunted, fists glinting under a dim lamppost. "Don't do anything stupid."

Mikoto thought it was far too late for that, but nonetheless, she nodded. Her company watched as darkness began to spread in the alley, crawling up her spine until it swallowed her entirely.

Lights flickered.

And then she was gone.

* * *

Sunlight drifted through the blinds and filtered through the room, blurring his vision. His face was wet and he thought morbidly that he might be covered in blood once again, but as he swiped the back of his hand over his eyes, he was surprised to find crystal clear tears. He was wide awake now, but he still felt tired, blinking once, twice, thrice. The fourth time he blinked, he kept his eyes closed, and he dreamt once more of the blood and the bodies.

 _Ninety-seven…_

 _Ninety-eight…_

 _Ninety-nine…_

Flat on his back, breathing hard as he pressed his hands over his eyes, he wondered again who the hundredth body will be. They burned beneath his fingertips, which was not an unfamiliar sensation, but the throbbing intensified and he swore he never felt this much pain. His last thought was of crimson and a beautiful smile.

 _A hundred_.

Higuchi Ryōta screamed.

* * *

 **postscript**

here's a million and one worded response to a review i received a couple of weeks ago! it's mainly addressed to the reader who sent it in, but if you have, like, ten hours to spare, i'd be thankful to anyone else willing to read it (ू• ౪•ू )

 **PurpleAndRed:** _ **I have to admit that I did not care for Rei at first. The latest chapters have improved my opinion somewhat, but I struggled to get through the first few because I found her really arrogant and somewhat condescending, which I guess is intentional. And it seems that despite the fact she IS an 'ice princess', the rest of Class 1-A (except Bakugou, who still seems to be uncharacteristically tolerant of her) seem to love her anyway**_ … _**it gets kind of irritating to listen to them constantly praising her, to be honest.**_

 _ **With the more recent revelations about her mother it does bring her attitude to light somewhat, especially the way she speaks (it struck me as odd she doesn't sound like a teenager - she talks like she's older than Aizawa, even at twelve), but I'm still hoping to see some more character development on that front.**_

 _ **Also it bothers me that Rei keeps supplanting canon characters in parts of the story, like taking Uraraka's place in the Heroes vs Villains test. I understand you want to focus on your OC and highlight how she'd react in situations and such, but it gets to the point where she seems to be in EVERY major scene in canon and the canon characters seem to be overly fascinated with her, like Aizawa singling her out to critique Midoriya on the first day of training, Shigaraki stopping to taunt her about her father during the USJ attack, etc. It also strikes me as convenient that Rei seems able to work everything that goes on around her out, such as figuring out Shinsō's quirk within about five minutes of seeing him use it**_ … _**it'd be nice to see her stumped on something or rub someone the wrong way.**_

First and foremost, I agree with most of what you said, but a lot of it was, as you had also mentioned, intentional. In fact, there's actually a snippet in the first chapter that heavily implies the motivation behind a lot of what she says and does:

 _"Three different people with three vastly different personalities. I could've greeted them as cheerfully as Uraraka or maybe dropped into a ninety-degree bow that Iida would've proudly reciprocated, but the way Midoriya avoided eye contact implied that such a forward introduction might only fluster him more. Keeping that in mind, I settled for a short nod."_

I personally don't consider Rei a full fledged ice princess for a very specific reason detailed in that excerpt. "Ice princess" is typically described as someone cold and aloof, and while Rei does have a tendency to detach herself from her peers, she doesn't go out of her way to ignore them and makes a conscious effort to make sure that those around her feel comfortable.

Not a people pleaser, per se, but she knows what they like to hear and takes it upon herself to act the way they want. Save for trash Mineta, I also find Class 1-A quite supportive of each other as it is, and Rei hasn't really given them a reason not to like her, I guess is what I'm trying to say.

The second half of your critique is where I found myself nodding along in agreement because the topic I've discussed the most with other readers through DMs and such is making sure Rei isn't some kind of seer who knows everything just because she's our main protagonist. Like, there used to be a scene in chapter four where Rei realized that Kurogiri was about to attack Thirteen before it even happened, and a reader pointed out… well, this was the review, and I went ahead and fixed it because they're totally right:

" _There was something… irrationally dirty about Rei putting a waterfall between Thirteen and disintegrating himself. Which sounds weird, because hey, perfectly sensible thing to fix. But it felt more like Rei just flipped ahead a few pages of her assigned manga reading and less like she analyzed the situation."_

That said, I'm thinking I should tweak Rei's first meeting with Shinsō, too, because I see what you mean about her dissecting his Quirk a little quickly. I also understand why you think her manner of speaking comes across as a little? Old? But it's not too different from Yaoyorozu minus the honorifics, and I've known a bunch of middle schoolers with that same level of vocabulary… so yeah, I'll try to tone it down a little, but to be honest I feel like that part is just a character trait more than anything else.

Shigaraki taunting her about her father was… not a big deal? I mean, it _was_ , but it had more to do with the mystery behind his disappearance than it did about Rei herself. Shigaraki couldn't care less about Rei. He only took interest in her _because_ he realized she was her father's daughter, but apart from that, he found her equally as annoying as the rest of her friends.

Rei supplanting canon characters in parts of the story was unavoidable from the very start considering she literally took a spot in Class 1-A. Some things, like the Heroes vs. Villain test, admittedly came out of pure convenience, but Aizawa singling her out was just Aizawa being Aizawa (if anything, he singled Midoriya out and just used her to further his point). I'm not sure how else to change that given she's the main character of the story regardless, but hopefully with the plot picking up and canon divergence becoming more prevalent in future chapters, Rei won't be as, uh, replacement-y.

I am so sorry for dumping this essay on you, but I'm grateful you took the time to send in such a thoughtful review (and even did it on anonymous in case I felt the need to delete it, seriously, I really appreciate it). I'm also definitely not a stranger to the pain of finding grammatically correct fics so it's nice to hear that that and the flow of dialogue are okay. In any case, I hope to hear from you again and that those with enough of an attention span to read through this whole thing throw in their two cents, too!

ಞ(ల˙◡˙ల)ಞ


	12. Apricity

No copyright infringement intended.

* * *

—

 **XII. Apricity**

—

* * *

Mikoto, cloaked entirely in black and dark gray, slipped through the shadows like she was one. Her eyes were the only source of light in the alley, a strikingly bold crimson that reflected the red painted on her lips and nails. She was darkness and blood and beauty, and perhaps most surprising of all, a beloved Hero.

 _Was_ a beloved Hero.

Things could've been so much easier had she not been so reckless. Years of waiting made her itch for an adventure, so when she finally picked up a lead on her husband's current whereabouts, she stopped lurking and lunged. Like most treasures in this world, however, it came with a cost, and a rather high price at that. If the Police Force had their way, her face would be plastered on every screen in the city as a wanted criminal.

"Where is it?" she asked.

The man whimpered and wriggled and writhed, eyes wide in distilled terror. He was middle aged and completely inconspicuous save for the briefcase now settled under her stilettos, a black satchel type that looked equally harmless if not for its bulletproof shell and password protected lock.

That briefcase was the very reason he was here in the first place. He was walking on a busy street in Hosu one minute and trapped in a dark alley the next. Before he could do so much as scream, his voice echoed in every direction leading to nowhere, and then there was darkness. It happened far too quickly, far too easily for him to escape. In the midst of the darkness, he was all that remained.

As Kamino, her world had one purpose, which evinced into a prison to hold Villains until it was their time to rot in the real world. Such a place held secrets even she had yet to uncover and that made it the perfect tool to polish her sins. No one would ever know, and for the greater good, Mikoto vowed to make sure she only used it when she had no other option.

But in no world, real or not, should a great or good Hero be accustomed to torture.

"I won't ask again," Mikoto said, tugging on the man's tie until it curled around and around and around his neck.

"I don't know," he stammered, his breath lumping in his throat as the cloth turned scaly and slithering and snake-like until they _were_ snakes. "I don't know," hissing and coiling and curling. "I—I don't—it's here! It's in Hosu!"

The snakes smoothed out until only strings remained in his hands, limp and lifeless like he felt at that moment. It occurred to him then that he had just revealed to her information worth more than his life, and between the two of them, they both knew she would not be the one to pay.

"There are enough vials in that case to create a small army," the man stuttered, stumbling across a tethered tightrope. "Maybe a dozen or more, less than fifty. It's not meant for the general public, not yet—"

"Who then?" she asked.

"Drunk bastards," he said, falling and falling and falling deeper into the pit of black. "Homeless folks, prostitutes, runaways. People," the man choked. "People who wouldn't be missed."

Mikoto felt sick.

Not at herself, no, she had come to terms with this part of the job long ago. Her stomach churned because this man and the people he worked for treated human lives, precious as they were, as something so dispensable. Was she any different by how she was currently extracting intel from him? Maybe not, but it was one life for millions, she reminded herself.

That said, she wasn't going to kill him. He was dead the moment he allowed himself to get caught, but while she'd take responsibility for putting him in that situation, his blood wouldn't be on her hands. It was on _theirs_.

"Tell me how to destroy the vials," Mikoto demanded, her voice pretty and poised and poisonous.

The man gasped in a strangled breath and shook his head, not out of refusal, but because of the voices tittering in his mind. Tell her, they said.

 _Tell her._

"Dump them in the trash and anyone can pick it up," he chuckled, shaking his head again. "Burn it, blow it up. Incinerate it. But don't touch it or it'll find a way inside you, and then," his face paled. "No, no, not _you_. This is Hell," he nodded this time and laughed louder. "Not you, no, it'd make you too strong, too strong."

"Give me a name," Mikoto said. "The name of your employer and the name of those damn drugs."

"They'd kill me! They'd kill me and I'd die! How'd you know there was more than one? Am I already dead?"

Mikoto knew the man was at a stage teetering between insanity and something much worse. Death, perhaps. He was right about being dead. There was nowhere he could go after this that they wouldn't find him, and then they would come for her.

"Name," Mikoto whispered. "I need a name."

The man cackled.

"Don't know who," he slurred, head falling back and lolling to the side. "But the vials, the vials! Trigger is spreading," his fingers formed the shape of a pistol pointed at her face and he pretended to fire. "Pew, pew, Trigger is spreading _at an alarming rate_!"

"And the other drug?"

"Don't know," the man repeated, his voice dropping to a mere wisp of wind under his breath. "Don't touch it or you'll disappear. Pew, pew, and _poof!_ "

He promptly passed out.

The darkness faded and the shadows turned into a dimly lit alley. Mikoto had nothing left to gain from keeping him around so she left his mind and body there, unconscious and unstable. The man wouldn't, couldn't hurt anyone ever again, because he'd be gone before midnight.

It was a little after seven in the evening and the streets were filled with couples on dates and parents treating their children out for dinner. There was nothing left for her here either, but at the same time it was all _there_. Everything she wanted to protect was in the real world. If she had to watch hers crumble in order to do that, she would.

Mikoto clutched the briefcase like it was now a part of her arm while digging into her pocket with her free hand. Nine numbers on speed dial that belonged to the best nine Heroes in the country. Her fingers eventually pressed on the two, and as expected, it only rang once.

"I need a favor," she said, heels clicking against the sidewalk.

* * *

The morning after was brutal.

I woke up numb everywhere save for a tingle under my skin apprising me with whispers of wind and rumors of rain. Lightning colored the otherwise somber skies, disappearing and reappearing in second-long intervals. All I could think about when I felt the first drop was _I really don't want to go to school_ , but as much as I wanted to stay in bed the whole day, I knew better than anyone that time didn't stop just because bad things happened.

Thunder was far less forgiving when it came to providing comfort, but I didn't mind the sound this time. It was nice to wake up to something so familiar and inherently part of my life as opposed to sad silence reminding me that I was living in an empty home. In all honesty, that was probably how I managed to get dressed in the first place; I'd much rather be out here than in that house.

"What're you thinking about?" Kirishima asked, glancing at me from the corner of his eye. "You look a little down. It's not the weather, is it?"

My eyes drifted to the redhead at my side. I ran into him couple of blocks ago with his bag perched atop his head and most of his jacket soaked through as a result of him forgetting his umbrella on the train. A quick twirl of my finger managed to remove any excess moisture, and somehow after that we ended up walking together the rest of the way, now safe and dry as I kept the rain from pelting down on our skin.

"Just a little tired, I guess," I said, absentmindedly looking up at the clouds. "I'm fine."

"Good to hear," Kirishima grinned, hopping over a shallow puddle. "That doesn't really answer my question, though?"

I was mildly startled by his perceptiveness, but I masked the surprise with a quirk of my brow. Nice as he was, Kirishima wasn't necessarily my first choice when confiding to someone. That said, I could find no reason not to indulge in the conversation at least a little bit.

"Was that supposed to be a question, too?" I mused, flicking my wrist to freeze a wider pool of water for us to cross.

"No?" Kirishima said, faltering for a moment before letting out a sheepish chuckle. "Oh, I did it again, huh? Sorry, I just don't want to be too pushy or anything."

Despite my less than perfect mood, I felt my mouth twitch into a small smile. He was unexpectedly easy to talk to, but I had no reason to be so shocked. The fact that even Bakugou didn't mind his presence should've been enough proof that Kirishima made for a good friend.

"It feels weird to be back at school after everything that happened yesterday," I admitted, looking down at my pristinely white sneakers.

I had no use for waterproof shoes these days, but they brought forth a fleeting memory from when I was only a few years old. Even before my Quirk manifested, I loved the feeling of water on my skin. My father used to get mad, or at least as mad as someone so gentle could get, repeatedly telling me to stop running out into the rain before my mother caught us both. It never stopped me because he never did get the hang of hiding his smile, and so more often than not, I skipped around laughing and tripping into puddles.

 _Don't be afraid to smile when you're happy._

"I get it," Kirishima said, his trademark grin shifting into an earnest smile. I wanted to tell him _no, you don't_ , but I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from sprouting something I'd regret. "We were really worried about you for a second there. I'm glad you're doing better."

I strained to give him a teasing grin, hoping it came across less melancholy than I felt at the moment. "Only a second?"

"I mean," the tips of his ears tinged a shade lighter than his hair. "You know what I mean!"

"I do," I said after a breath, smiling a bit more sincerely. Kirishima was quite endearing without even trying. "How'd your match go? I'm sorry I didn't get to watch."

"Don't worry about it," Kirishima shrugged. "You didn't really miss much. Bakugou beat me fair and square."

I believed him not because I doubted his abilities, but because I couldn't imagine the blond losing to someone aside from maybe Deku or Todoroki. His sheer will didn't make things easy for anyone under normal circumstances, much less a battle with such high stakes. Kirishima was remarkable in his own right, of course, and I understood on a personal level why he might've needed to hear that.

"You did your best, right?" I asked, expanding our makeshift umbrella as the rain fell harder. He tucked his bag under his arm and nodded, looking at me curiously and a bit apprehensively. "Well, from what I've seen, your best is pretty incredible. I'd say I missed a lot."

Kirishima blushed about as bright as his hair, and though I had every intention to sulk the rest of the day, I couldn't fight back the laugh in my throat. His wide eyes darted to his shoes, but I pretended not to notice, and after a second the unwanted tint had been replaced by a bold, brilliant grin.

"Thanks," Kirishima said, nudging my shoulder. "And hey, if you ever need anything, let me know, okay? I owe you big time for this."

It was a gentle gesture, ironic considering the nature of his Quirk, but it made me smile once again. I followed his line of sight to the crystalline ceiling above our heads, merely observing as he marveled at how the raindrops couldn't touch us.

"Don't worry about it," I said, laughing a bit. "I don't mind."

"No, seriously, I don't even want to think about what Aizawa-sensei would've done if I walked in dripping wet," Kirishima said, shaking his head. "You're a real lifesaver, Rei!"

"I should be the one saying thanks," I said, shrinking our parasol as we neared the entrance of the school. "To be honest, my morning was kind of in the dumps until I ran into you."

"Yeah?" Kirishima blinked, then beamed. "I'm not sure what I did, but I'm happy to help! That's what friends are for, right?"

I opened my mouth and closed it again as excuses like _we're not really friends_ or _he's better off not getting involved in anything that has to do with me_ spun in my mind. It would've been easy to believe them, but I couldn't disregard the childlike fuzziness that swept through me at his words. I almost felt like skipping around in the rain again.

 _That's what friends are for._

"Right," I said.

Maybe I could be selfish for a little while longer.

* * *

The first thing our teacher said when he stepped into the room was a less than enthusiastic, "I have an announcement to make," which, of course, hardly elicited a worthwhile reaction from us. Most of my classmates still basked in the excitement of getting recognized on their morning commute, and I was busy trying not to fall asleep.

It wasn't until the door slid open again to reveal a familiar head of unruly purple did I straighten at my desk, eyes and mouth as wide as about every other person's in our class.

"My name is Shinsō Hitoshi," he said, his trademark smirk already in place. "I look forward to spending the rest of the semester with you."

He didn't look any different from all the other times I'd seen him save for the uncharacteristically nervous energy he'd been emitting, but I figured being the new kid was a universal fate every teenager had to deal with at some point in their lives. The fact that this was his second time going through it this year alone might've added to his anxiety, or maybe it was knowing he was the only transfer student in our year.

"Mineta Minoru has been switched to Class 1-B," Aizawa-sensei explained, leering at us with his beady eyes when we prepared to release a collective sigh of relief.

 _Poor Kan-oji._

"With Shinsō's addition and my having developed a better understanding of who works best together," Aizawa-sensei turned his head to stare pointedly at Bakugou and Deku, who both cringed and looked away. "I'll be issuing a new seating chart as of today. Please stand and wait to be called."

Ochako let out a drawn out _aw_ from beside me before reluctantly getting up from her seat. I picked up my backpack from the floor and offered her a small smile, feeling a little bittersweet about the sudden turn of events myself. It was strange to think I'd been so adamant about being her seatmate just a few months ago when I couldn't really imagine having anyone but her and Todoroki at my side now.

"This sucks," Ochako said, her lips curling into a pout. "I hope we can sit together again, Rei."

"Is it really such a big deal?" Todoroki asked, brows furrowed. "It's not like we're switching classes or anything."

Ochako turned to him, her expression looking impressively reminiscent of a kicked puppy. "You're not going to miss her, Todoroki-kun?"

I nudged his side, distinctly aware of Ashido and Kaminari listening in on our conversation from a few feet away. Todoroki blinked at me and then looked back at Ochako, shrugging his shoulders as his lips quirked the slightest bit.

"I'll sit with her at lunch," Todoroki said, glancing at me again from the corner of his turquoise eye. "Right?"

"Yeah," I nodded, stifling a grin. "Who knows, Ochako? You might end up sitting next to Deku."

"That'd be nice," Ochako mumbled, loud enough for only me and Todoroki to hear. "If I could sit next to Deku, I mean, but it's not like," her voice rose an octave. "I mean, it's not like I care!"

I had never seen a face flush such a vibrant pink, and that included Kirishima from this morning and Deku himself. Ochako's hands flew to her cheeks as if realizing they had betrayed her feelings, and I could do nothing but watch in amusement when she suddenly started floating.

"Wait, did you just," Kaminari squinted at her in disbelief. "Did you just accidentally use your Quirk on yourself?"

"No!" Ochako squealed, her skin turning an even darker shade of red as her outburst caught the attention of most of our classmates. "Maybe! I don't know!"

Todoroki and I exchanged looks, his arguably more confused than mine. I didn't want to assume, but I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't know much about having a crush, leaving defusing the situation to me. Biting back a smile, I reached for Ochako's wrist. As her feet touched the floor, she looked up to find Deku peering at her curiously from a few feet away and dove behind me at breakneck speed.

"I'm sure he didn't see that," I said.

"Rei!"

"I'll be going in order of seat number so pay attention to your name," Aizawa-sensei said, holding up a torn up sheet of paper. By the way Shinsō stared at him like he'd grown another head, he probably fished it out of his sleeping bag. "The first row will be Tokoyami, Bakugou, Uraraka, Jiro, and Ojiro."

"Why am I sitting behind him?" Ochako blurted, slapping a hand over her mouth as soon as the words tumbled out.

Bakugou whipped around, his eyes narrowed into a cutting glare. "You got a problem with that, Chipmunk?"

"My name is Uraraka Ochako!" she huffed, slipping past me and Todoroki to stomp off to her seat.

"Are you sure it's not annoying?" Bakugou scowled, haphazardly dumping his bag onto the desk in front of her. "'Cause that's what you—"

"I'm glad to see we're getting off to a good start," Aizawa-sensei interrupted, giving the two a look that explicitly said _shut up or die_. The two stopped squabbling instantly. "Next up is Shinsō, Higuchi, Kirishima, Aoyama, and Kōda."

Kirishima met my gaze from across the room and gave me a thumbs up. I returned the gesture with a nod, pleasantly surprised by my new seatmates even if it meant dealing with Bakugou and Ochako's incessant quarrelling everyday.

"Hey, guys!" Kirishima grinned, waving at the brunette who beamed back at him. "This is pretty cool, huh?"

"What the fuck are you so happy about all the time?" Bakugou grumbled, slumping in his seat. "We're just sitting in different chairs."

"You should feel lucky about getting to sit next to Rei," Ochako said, sticking out her tongue.

I noted that the blond had shifted into neutral gear when he spared me a glance and his eyes held none of its usual animosity. He scoffed instead of snarled, regarding the brunette on his other side with an impassive expression.

"I can't say the same about you."

"I'd rather sit next to Kirishima-kun, anyway!"

"Is your class always this rowdy?" a third person asked.

My attention switched to Shinsō, his arms propped up on the back of his seat as he stared warily at the arguing duo to my right. He turned when he realized I had been looking at him, brows raised in question, but I just gave him a half-hearted shrug.

"It's your class now, too, but yeah, pretty much," I said, smiling. "I'm glad to see you."

"I saw you yesterday, didn't I?"

His smirk turned impish, but despite his attempts to appear casual, I knew first day nerves didn't disappear just like that. Luckily, I had something I meant to say to him since the day we met that I thought might take some of the edge off.

"You know what I mean," I said, holding his gaze. "You deserve to be here, Shinsō."

He didn't react right away, but once my words registered, his eyes ballooned if only for a fraction of a second. Managing my smile started to get a little exhausting with all of the commotion going on, but I had quite a bit of difficulty stifling my chuckles when the tips of his ears turned pink.

"Do you always say stuff like that out of the blue?" Shinsō asked, clicking his tongue in an attempt to hide his discomfiture.

My eyes trailed to the side of the room where Todoroki remained, still waiting to be seated. "No, but I get that a lot."

"Third row," Aizawa-sensei said, flipping the paper over. "Midoriya, Kaminari, Asui, Hagakure, and Sero."

Before he made his way to his new desk, I noticed Deku spare a glance at the boy in front of me. He caught my eye next and blinked in surprise when I offered him a friendly wave, but the creases on his forehead smoothed out and he managed to give me a neighborly smile in return.

Though I prided myself in knowing when to be impartial, I understood why a few of my classmates distrusted Shinsō, and I couldn't help but think it was misguided suspicion. No, I knew it was misguided. I, myself, was guilty of being intimidated by his Quirk, but if they could accept my manipulating bodies, then eventually they would come to accept his controlling minds.

"Fancy meeting you here," Kaminari said, sliding into the seat to my left.

"In such a big city?" I mused, humoring him. "Must be fate."

Kaminari dropped his grin, staring at me with a blank expression. "What just happened?"

"Would you rather I go back to making friendly but potentially real threats?"

"Not in the slightest, my lady," Kaminari said, holding up his hands in mock surrender.

"Fourth row," Aizawa-sensei said, his energy waning before our eyes. "Todoroki, Yaoyorozu, Iida, Shōji, and Ashido."

I half-expected Kaminari to spin around in his seat as soon as Yaoyorozu sat down, brows raised the way they always did when he was about to drop a pick up line, but he just leaned back in his seat with his arms folded behind his head.

"Weird," I mumbled. "Is that character development?"

"Class 1-A really is full of freaks," Shinsō said, lips curled into a wicked sort of grin.

I felt my mouth twitch into a fond smile and took a moment to look around. Bakugou and Ochako kept bickering about nothing, and Tokoyami looked torn between chuckling and popping a vein. Kirishima, Hagakure, Aoyama, Jiro, and Ojiro cooed over a photo Kōda brought of the stray puppies at the shelter a few blocks away from Yūei.

On the opposite side of the room, Tsuyu and Ashido exchanged stories about recent beach trips while Shōji and Sero discussed takoyaki and soy bean soup recipes. Beside me, Kaminari listened to Yaoyorozu's stories about spending summer in Paris and London, his eyes comically wide. Todoroki and Midoriya spoke in hushed tones and kept nodding in patterns.

Briefly, I pondered what could be that important to have them both so immersed in their dialogue, but I wouldn't be surprised if they made something as trivial as the weather worth a meaningful conversation. In contrast, Iida was unusually silent, and knowing why caused me to selfishly rip my gaze away.

At the front of the room stood Aizawa-sensei with his back leaning against the board. I realized he had been observing our class like I was albeit a bit lackluster in comparison. His eyes didn't have any sort of emotion save for a dallying sort of boredom, but I knew, somehow, that he was thinking of the same thing I did: if I couldn't sleep forever, then I guess I didn't mind being here.

"Sorry, Shinsō," I said, mirth unfurling across my expression with hints of lingering despondency. "You're one of us now."

* * *

My mood took a drastic dive after our math lesson with Ectoplasm. I wasn't a fan of the subject in the first place, but it was my mother's favorite class in school, and anything that reminded me of her seemed to flip a switch controlling my temper. It didn't help at all that our teacher was gratuitously relentless when it came to calculus. Aoyama tried asking me for help on a problem and I had apparently scared him off with just my face.

The fact that I was fine the whole morning and definitely not fine now made my brain hurt almost as much as the ache dispersing in my chest. It was easy to smile when I had something to distract me, but the day always slowed down in the final hour before lunch, and the growing silence gave me far too much time alone with my thoughts.

Thinking too much wasn't a new concept for me. It was a part of my personal brand that I'd claimed long before I realized it wasn't always a good thing. Like Deku said during our match, I was stuck in a cycle of recycled feelings if only because I had nowhere to place them outside of my own self, and though I knew it wasn't healthy, change, or good change at least, didn't happen overnight.

All I could do was wallow in self-pity until someone noticed I was sulking. I would be forced to plaster on a perfectly crafted smile, but I suppose I was used to that routine long before I had the novelty of having friends to help me get through it.

"Congratulations."

Todoroki stopped just as he was about to slurp down another spoonful of noodles and looked over at me with a raised brow. The two of us sat in the cafeteria, his usual bowl of cold soba already half empty and my spicy ramen still half full. I hadn't had much of an appetite since the Festival started, but it seemed a bit trivial these days, and I couldn't be bothered to care.

Most of the students at Yūei still bustled and buzzed with excitement from yesterday's festivities. I didn't even have to look around to know that a large portion of that population had their gazes glued to the back of our heads. I expected the prying eyes and constant stream of whispers, but that didn't mean I welcomed them.

 _But didn't you want everyone to know your name_?

I had dreams of my parents coming home again, and in the midst of lucid hugs and happy tears, I realized that a world in which my family stayed together was a world in which my friends and I would be kept apart. I had come to terms with my selfishness, but I didn't want to have to choose. That was probably why I woke up this morning sobbing and stuttering _sorry_ like it was all I knew how to say.

It felt like I stepped into another reality entirely when Kirishima and I entered our classroom. Most of our classmates already sat inside chatting about the events leading up to one of the most miserable days of my existence, which only made me want to crawl back into my sheets and hibernate indefinitely as was planned.

As much as I hated to admit it, I was bothered by how _un_ bothered they appeared. It wasn't until Tsuyu made a comment about how exhausted I must've been after our match did I realize they weren't ignoring my strange behavior out of obligation or even pity. They just didn't get it, but I couldn't blame them for that.

Deku saw most of it unfold, and Todoroki, Yaoyorozu, Ochako, maybe Bakugou, and evidently Kirishima cared enough to notice that something bigger than I let show went on behind the scenes, but everyone else had no reason to think my breakdown was a result of something so inconceivable as my parents possibly turning into cold blooded killers, especially when I could hardly believe it myself.

"Congratulations," I repeated. "For winning, I mean."

"Thanks," Todoroki said.

His voice had a lilt to it that said he wasn't as indifferent about his victory as he wanted everyone to believe. For a moment, I wondered why that thought turned my intestines into worms, twisting together until all that remained was a tangled knot. It occurred to me only after it passed that I hadn't asked about any of the matches apart from my own and Kirishima's, and a selfish, perhaps even cruel part of me knew that it was because I believed no one else had it worse than me.

Except Iida.

I hadn't been able to look at him all day.

My fingers drummed against the table top. I picked up the tick recently, a need to constantly move my hands—they hadn't stopped shaking since I heard the news. And then I looked at Todoroki, really looked at him. His eyes seemed duller than usual and I could tell he had something on his mind that probably had to do with whatever happened during his match.

"You're not going to eat?" Todoroki asked.

I wanted to ask him about it, but I didn't. Couldn't. His expression unsettled me. It held nothing but genuine concern, and here I was hesitating to ask my friend if he was okay when it was obvious he was hurting somehow. Maybe not in the same way I was, but pain is pain, and whether I knew it or not I had been forcing others to numb theirs in order to ease my own.

"I'm not hungry," I spit out, harsher than I intended.

The self-loathing started to creep up, not slithering like snakes, but like the worms I saw in place of my fingers, because for someone who wanted to sleep forever, I didn't know how to keep still. I didn't want to stay in one place, didn't want to be anywhere people could see me. And I didn't know what to do because those eyes, _his_ eyes, seemed to see every broken piece.

"You did good," Todoroki said, his voice quiet.

"No, I didn't," spilled from my lips, and before I even had time to regret it, the words just kept tumbling out. "If I'm being honest, I don't care much about anything that happened yesterday, and I feel like," a pause and then a humorless snort. "I know I'm piece of work, but I can't help but think that it would've been better if I just didn't try, because I try to be good at this kind of stuff, and it's easy to be a decent person—"

 _But I don't know how to be a friend._

Todoroki didn't say anything, and though my brain wanted me to stop talking, it seemed that my mouth took that as a sign to continue. I clenched my fists, ignoring the sting of my nails digging into my skin, and inhaled sharply.

"I'm sorry," I muttered, keeping my gaze on the noodles in my bowl. Worms, still worms, but they no longer wriggled and I didn't feel like throwing up. "I don't care that you won. I care that it's you."

The silence that loitered after my spiel sounded louder than the cacophony of conversation across the cafeteria. I waited for him to give me a reason to feel bad about snapping at him, to feel guilty for rambling or saying to his face that I couldn't care any less about his prize, but Todoroki didn't even blink. He just stared and kept staring until suddenly, he moved.

His right hand reached over to grab my own, and his other gently peeled back my fingers until my palm lay open between his. I noticed crescents embedded in my skin reminiscent of white inked tattoos aside from one or two colored red. Blood, I realized in surprise, and for a second I wondered how he noticed them before I did.

And then I felt it.

First the blood, then the frost smoothing over my hands like a band aid. Todoroki stared at the marks with flames in his eyes and ice in his veins. At that moment I felt a mutual understanding between us that I didn't think words could've done justice in conveying in the first place.

"If you're not going to eat," Todoroki said. "I might as well tell you what happened."

"Thanks," I mumbled, disappointed and confused as to _why_ I was disappointed when he pulled his hand back. I buried the thought before it could fully surface and tilted my head in question. "What happened with what?"

"Bakugou is a pain in the ass."

"Oh."

"I'm serious."

"All I said was _oh_ ," I said, arching a brow. "It's not like I don't believe you. What did he do this time?"

"He tried to get me to use my left side."

That piqued my interest.

I assumed Todoroki got over using his fire in the first round, but I should've known better than most that people can be a victim to change no matter how short a time passed. I sensed a nagging part of me that dithered about pressing the matter until I reminded myself that he brought up the topic, so I took a breath and then the bait.

"Did you not want to use it again?" I asked.

Todoroki pushed his chopsticks together and neatly placed them atop his bowl. A handful of thick noodles remained in the dish, but it looked like he didn't plan to keep eating, and I had a feeling that signified this conversation pushing past awkward and bordering important.

"No. Not like that. Bakugou wanted me to use it the same way my old man does," Todoroki paused, then shook his head. "Like I'm not good enough without it."

"It's your Quirk," I said, listlessly rotating the liquid in my cup with a swirl of my finger. "Their opinions don't matter more than yours."

"I couldn't care less about what they think," Todoroki said, frowning. "But Bakugou said some things about you and Midoriya, and it made me upset."

"What, that's why you didn't want to use your flames?" I asked, taken aback. "To spite him?"

"Yeah."

"Oh."

"Stop saying that," Todoroki huffed.

"If you hadn't noticed, I haven't been very good with words lately," I grumbled, sliding lower into my seat. "What did he say to get you so worked up?"

"That I was 'an entitled bastard who didn't deserve to be in the finals,'" Todoroki recited, his eyes narrowed. "Not when people like you and Midoriya had more to lose and still put everything on the line."

I tried not to flinch.

 _You have no idea what I've lost._

"He says things like that to provoke you all the time," I said slowly, trying to be heedful of what I said to him. "You've never really paid him any mind before. What made this time different?"

I caught the spark of defiance in his eyes, a sort of stubbornness that didn't want to reveal the truth to my question. Before I could get annoyed, I was reminded of my own reluctance to deal with my problems and forced myself to be patient with him, though I didn't have to wait long. His response was oddly unexpected.

"Because he was right."

"He's not—"

"He was," Todoroki interrupted. "It wasn't until he said that did I realize the real reason I couldn't bring myself to use my left side."

 _Should I ask? Should I not ask? Does he want me to ask?_

"Don't hurt yourself," Todoroki said dryly, and to my dismay, I felt my cheeks heat up in embarrassment. "I was thinking about my parents."

Todoroki had talked about his father before, but this was the first time since I'd known him that he made a reference to his mother. It was quickly becoming apparent that this conversation shifted into something bizarrely personal. I felt my heart thud against my chest in curiosity and fear and thought to myself that I was selfish and a coward.

I wanted to learn so much more about him, and though I wasn't sure if I was at a place where I could handle carrying the weight on his shoulders along with the bricks piled upon mine ( _selfish, selfish, so selfish_ ), this was not the time to be a shitty person on top of being a shitty friend. I swallowed the unease paralyzing my muscles, shifting in my seat to allow blood to flow through my limbs.

"Your parents?" I asked.

I almost sighed in relief when Todoroki hesitated, a faraway look in his eyes as he watched the miniature cyclone in my cup start to dissolve. He wasn't ready either—

"My mother suffered a lot," Todoroki said, gaze averting to his now empty bowl. The sigh that nearly escaped me suddenly came out as a gasp. "It wasn't her decision to marry my father. He used his money to get her, and then used her to get me.

"A person can only take so much before they shatter. I don't know how she lasted as long as she did without breaking, but I was there when she did."

 _Why is he telling me this?_

My eyes moved onto his scar against my will, and then I stared at him, and for the first time I couldn't seem to look away. He had to have noticed, but he either didn't care or didn't mind. There _was_ a distinction. I wasn't sure which of the two I hoped it would be.

"I thought about what Bakugou said," Todoroki said, fist curling under his chin. "If I didn't at least try to use my flames, then everything she went through would've been for nothing. The same way everything you worked for would've been in vain if you hadn't done your absolute best against Midoriya."

"That's not the same, Todoroki. You did it for your mom, and I—"

 _I wanted to do it for mine—_

"I made a promise," I said firmly, gripping my knees under the table. "I had every intention of keeping it and I did. I didn't do it for her."

"Maybe we're not the same after all," Todoroki agreed after a thought.

I refused to dwell on the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach ( _you said it first_ , I admonished myself) and resigned to nod at him with a taut, sort of dingy smile.

"You're a much better person than I am," I murmured.

It was quiet again, and instantly, part of me wanted to tug at my hair for always saying the wrong thing at the wrong time or feeling like _everything_ was wrong these days. But I didn't take it back. To say Todoroki was a good person was an undeniable fact, and to say he was a much better human than I could ever hope to be didn't seem too far from the truth either.

"That's not a fair comparison," Todoroki said, frowning again. "There's one thing I have that you don't."

I almost laughed. "No."

"What?"

"You're going to say _you_ , right?" I said, shaking my head at him in disbelief. "That the reason you're a better person is because you have a friend like me?"

"And if I am?"

"Then you're wrong."

"I wouldn't have thought to use my flames at all if you hadn't spoken to me that day at the market."

"You said yourself you weren't going to make any promises," I said, exasperated. "In the end, it was your choice to do that."

Todoroki shrugged and the action annoyed me enough to question why I was so desperate to convince him otherwise. "It's my choice to believe you had something to do with it."

"But—"

"I used it," Todoroki blurted. "Before the match ended, I used my left side. After colliding with Bakugou's explosions, the field was destroyed, almost irreparable."

I wouldn't have doubted him if he said the whole stadium crumbled. That fight had to have been one of the most incredible in all of Yūei history, and had I not been so occupied dealing with my own issues, I would've directed more of my anger towards having missed it.

"I thought I'd have some regrets," Todoroki said, staring at me until I felt an urge to look away. I didn't. "I regret things with my mom. I thought it was my fault or my father's that she suffered the way she did and convinced myself she never wanted to see me again because of it. I felt guilty about that for a long time, but you made me realize that people are stronger than I sometimes give them credit for."

"Like you?"

"Like my mom."

"I guess we know where you get it from."

"You looked at me like that," Todoroki murmured, holding my gaze.

"What?" I asked, inhaling sharply when I realized I was a little bit afraid of his response. "Like what?"

"Like you were glad I was there. It made me think that maybe she could look at me like that again someday, and I know it's selfish, but I was… am happy."

I dropped my forehead against the surface of the table as a familiar quietude stalled the conversation. I didn't know how to react, but I could've sworn I heard my heart in my chest and felt the prickling return. This time I wasn't ashamed to admit that the incoming tears most definitely belonged to me.

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked.

"You needed to hear it."

"Hear what?"

A surge of panic struck me when seconds passed and I had yet to receive a reply. I was afraid that he stood and left, but then he exhaled as if to remind me that he was still there, and the next thing that hit me was relief and the sudden realization that I was thankful to sit here with him.

"You've worked hard and done well," Todoroki said. "If it's what you want, Higuchi, you can rest for a while."

My eyes widened and then shut tightly, allowing the liquid brimming at the rims to fall onto my skirt like little raindrops. I wasn't sobbing like I did the day before or even earlier that morning. The tears just sort of sat there, and for some reason I found comfort in that, perhaps because he was there, too.

The me from all those months ago would've never imagined herself crying in the middle of a crowded cafeteria for any reason, much less one of her friends attempting to cheer her up after a hellish couple of days. Even if she did, it would've never occurred to her that said friend would be Todoroki Shouto, of all people, confiding in her secrets that she would've otherwise carried to her grave.

 _We've come a long way._

We had about ten minutes left of our lunch period. I cried until the bells chimed and I heard the excited chatter and conspiratorial whispers transition into the scraping of chairs and pitter-patter of footsteps mimicking the rain or my calming heart. It was a song I became familiar with if only because anything was better than listening to the voices in my head, but I didn't mind learning it as much as I thought I would.

"You really are a good person," I said, languidly standing to my feet.

All I got in return was a slight tilt of his head, but that was more than enough. Todoroki sat with me the entire time. As we made our way back to our classroom, I didn't fail to notice that I stood at his right side, and the inexplicable gratitude I felt towards him for rekindling a warmth within me was every bit worth it.

 _Maybe I can be a better person because of you, too._

* * *

After lunch, Aizawa-sensei informed us that we'd be choosing our Hero names in lieu of our upcoming internships. He'd start off by revealing the list of sponsorships from the Sports Festival, but in all truthfulness, I was less concerned about who I'd be working with than I was about where.

It would be a lie to say that I hadn't thought about looking for my mother. Before she disappeared, she told me not to trust anything Tsukauchi said about her, and though I still felt sore about her leaving in the first place, I refused to believe that meant she was some kind of secret Villain.

This was, of course, a big maybe. I didn't know what I'd do even if I did find her and part of me didn't want to deal with confrontation at all. Maybe it'd be best to just leave things alone and let the Police Force handle it, but every time I settled for that thought, I recalled that the police wanted to arrest her.

I didn't _think_ I wanted that to happen.

Huffing out a sigh, I watched as our teacher rummaged through his sleeping bag for the remote that controlled the computerized blackboard. It would be lucky to receive even one sponsor and a miracle to have a choice about where I wanted to go. Maybe I was getting ahead of myself, but either way I'd know my fate as soon as he found what he was looking for.

"These are the people who received multiple internship offers," Aizawa-sensei said, taking a step to the side to point the remote at the screen. "I'll be handing out a detailed list in a moment."

I expected to see Todoroki and Bakugou at the top, but the fact that their offers reached the thousands made my eyes widen in surprise. Below them, Tokoyami and Iida both had a little over three hundred, and Kirishima and Tsuyu had about two-fifty each. To add to my astonishment, I found my name right under theirs.

"I got an offer!" Ochako cried, her eyes sparkling in delight as she pitched forward and shook Bakugou by his shoulders. "Look, I even got more than one!"

Bakugou snatched his arm away in an instant. "You're too damn happy about that!"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Ochako asked, unbothered by the brooding blond. "Wow, Rei, you got two hundred! That's amazing!"

"It's more than I expected," I admitted, shrugging again. From my peripheral, I noticed Tokoyami sigh and turned to him with a small grin. "You doing okay?"

"I didn't expect to receive so many either," Tokoyami said, pinching the bridge of his beak when his shirt rustled. "Dark Shadow, on the other hand, feels rather excited."

"I don't blame him," Ochako said, her tone cooing. "You're just proud, aren't you, Dark Shadow?"

Bakugou furrowed his brows, looking at her like she had just about lost her mind. "Why the hell are you talking to his uniform?"

"I'm talking to Dark Shadow!" Ochako rectified, throwing her arms up in exasperation. "I said his name, didn't I? Maybe Rei is right and you are losing your hearing!"

Fortunately for the lot of us, our dear instructor appeared before Bakugou could blow something up, namely the girl sitting behind him. He handed a pile of papers to Tokoyami and then Shinsō in front of me, who sat idly as a mere witness to our conversation.

"Shinsō," Aizawa-sensei said, prompting the purple haired boy to regard him with an indifferent stare. The two mirrored each other perfectly. "I still have to finish processing your information, but I thought you'd like to know about one particular offer."

He tapped on the piece of paper at the top of the stack and I watched with brewing curiosity when said boy's eyes grew in unadulterated shock. Leaning forward to peer over the latter's shoulder, I felt my own eyes expand as I read the isolated name on his sponsor list.

 _Aizawa Shōta – Eraserhead_

"Oh," I blinked, looking over at the man who had just finished distributing papers and then back at the boy in front of me sitting motionless save for his slightly trembling hands. "That's a pretty perfect combination."

Bakugou inched forward the same way I did, his own crimson eyes reflecting a begrudging respect. "Looks like you only needed one, Catmint."

"The Hero Course is just full of surprises, huh?" Shinsō mumbled, shifting in his seat to glance at my list. "Well? Got any interesting names on yours?"

My eyes flickered downward to skim through the vastly unfamiliar monikers. I recognized a few names like Tatsumo Ryuko, the Number Nine Hero Ryukyu, and even Emi, known professionally as the Pro Hero Joke, but location aside I was very particular about what I wanted to learn over the course of this internship.

Kan-oji and I had discussed the topic weeks before we even started training for the Sports Festival. These internships would take place during our week long break from school to teach us the basics of Heroics, but assuming we all passed the License Exam, we'd be applying for something more long-term with stricter requirements.

A Hero like Backdraft should've been an obvious decision with his hydrokinesis Quirk, but if I had to pick the one thing I was best at, I would say it was controlling water. It didn't necessarily make him a bad choice, per se, just a bit counterproductive in the long run.

My Quirk was closer to a form of liquid manipulation after all. I had the ability to control any substance so long as I took hold of it in a fluid state, but I had such little understanding of other properties that at this point there was little I could do with or against something that wasn't water or blood.

I had to learn how to recognize things at a molecular level to fully utilize my Quirk. In theory, for example, I should be able to deconstruct Ashido's acid Quirk by separating the liquid from the rest of the matter, but because I didn't know what else it was composed of, I wouldn't know which parts to manipulate.

"There's a few," I answered vaguely.

"Typical," Shinsō said, taking a peek at the page I was currently on. He pointed to a Kamihara Shinya, also known as the Number Five Hero Edgeshot. "You've got Heroes in the top five offering to train you."

"Bakugou does, too!" Kirishima exclaimed, flashing the blond a proud grin. "Best Jeanist is on your list, right?"

"First one on there," Bakugou shrugged, his inch high pile imposing and untouched. "I'm choosing him."

I frowned, disappointed. "Because he's the Number Four Hero?"

"Yeah?" he frowned back.

"That's dumb."

" _What?_ "

"She's not wrong," Shinsō said, his shoulders lifting into a lax shrug. "It looks like the only thing you have in common with him is the color of your hair."

"Did I fucking ask—"

"I'd actually take a look at your other offers," I cut in, shaking my head. "Somehow, I feel like you wouldn't appreciate learning how to weave clothes all day."

"How do you know that's what he's gonna make me do?" Bakugou asked, eyeing me dubiously.

I tried not to wince when the image of Hakamata Tsunagu showing up at our door to personally deliver every formal gown I had ever owned until I was ten popped up into my head.

"Trust me," I muttered, almost shuddering at the memory. "You should think about it."

That said, I turned back to my list of offers. Maybe it was luck or some kind of compensation for the, as Bakugou himself might call it, _shitty_ day I had yesterday, but I was on the very last page when I spotted a name that might be able to teach me what I needed to know.

Toyomitsu Taishirō, also known as the Pro Hero Fatgum.

It wasn't so much the Hero himself or his Quirk, which quite frankly had nothing to do with molecular structure, that interested me. Kan-oji introduced me to another student at this school, a third year who had a similar issue to mine in that he needed extensive knowledge of an object's properties in order to manifest his Quirk. I heard talks of Fatgum scouting him for his senior internship, so I assumed the Hero knew a thing or two about how to help with that particular problem.

My eyes trailed to the side of the room where Yaoyorozu sat scrutinizing the list in her hands. I wanted to ask her a few questions about it, too, but judging by the disappointment on her face, I didn't think she was up to accommodating me right now.

"Midnight will be here any second to help you with your Hero names," Aizawa-sensei shuffled to the front of the room again, his sleeping bag curled around him with the zipper tucked to his chin. "Take as long as you need, but don't bother me."

He paused to let out a yawn and then slumped to the floor without another word. True to his word, the door slammed open not a second later to reveal the R-Rated Heroine herself. The smirk on her face was as much part of her as Shinsō's was his, and like always, it left quite a few of us gaping in awe.

"Did you miss me?" Kayama-sensei grinned, hands placed purposefully on her hips. The only response was a collective _gulp_ that made her smirk widen even more. "I'll give you a few minutes to think of something before we start sharing with the class."

"We're saying them out loud?" Kirishima groaned, and a second later I heard a thud that must've been his head hitting his desk.

I raised a brow, glancing at him from over my shoulder. "We're deciding our public personas."

"I'm sure you'll think of a good one, Kirishima-kun," Ochako said, patting him on the back when my statement flustered him even more.

"Uh, actually," Kirishima mumbled, his cheeks turning a shade of red uncanny to his hair. "I kind of already have one in mind."

"Perfect!" Kayama-sensei said, eyes glinting mischievously. "Why don't you go first and show everyone how it's done?"

"No way," Kirishima said, shaking his head. "I don't want to be first!"

I could understand why he was nervous to reveal his. Hero names were a vital part of the job, and people either spent their entire lives thinking of the perfect title, or didn't think about it at all until they found themselves in a situation like this one. If Kirishima already had one prepared, then he must've come up with it a while ago, and for him to take the time to do that meant it was something personal.

"I'll go."

The bottom of my chair scraped against the tiles as I stood from my seat. It squeaked loudly, perhaps more so than usual due to the sudden absence of noise. It had been replaced by an odd atmosphere of reverence as nearly two dozen pairs of eyes pointed at me. Kayama-sensei quirked brow, and for a moment, I was reminded of the first time I met her on the very first day of school.

At the time, I had no intention of getting particularly attached to anything or anyone, and here I was a few months later willing to take one for the team. My peers stared at me with the same eager expressions they had on their faces when I arrived late to find Aizawa-sensei sprawled on the floor not unlike his current disposition. Like I did on that first day, I squared my shoulders and made my way front and center, only this time I didn't feel like crawling into a hole.

"I'm looking forward to finding out what you've chosen," Kayama-sensei said.

Her lips curled into a rare smile. I accepted the board and marker she offered me with a grin of my own, one that was much more genuine than the first few I'd given her all those months ago. As she gestured for me to take the podium at the front of the room, I took a deep breath.

Aside from my Quirk, another thing I took pride in was my handwriting. People didn't really care about how letters curved together so it was more or less a shallow indulgence I usually kept to myself. This time, however, I took extra care in each stroke and character until I was left with a script that looked as royal as the name I had written down.

"My father used to tell me stories when I was younger," I said, capping the marker and setting it aside. "Fairytales, mostly, but sometimes I'd ask for myths and legends just because."

The room was as silent as when Shinsō first stepped into our class, but I felt the stares and the confusion and curiosity from all four corners and knew everyone held onto my every word. Knowing that they cared enough to listen so intently encouraged me to keep talking. Despite my trembling fingers, I took a deep breath and tried not to be afraid.

"I'm not sure if I deserve it," I admitted. "Not yet, at least, but I hope someday I'll be brave enough to answer when people call me by this name."

I looked up for a second and thought I'd regret it, maybe chicken out because everyone was looking at me and I always hated that feeling with everything I had, but this was different from the stares I received from strangers. Kaminari looked completely enamored, Ochako effervescent, and Deku had stars in his eyes.

Kirishima gave me the biggest grin I've ever seen, Yaoyorozu offered an encouraging nod, and when crimson met crimson I felt like I could take on the world. Two eyes remained, a shimmering silver and tempean turquoise that made me feel like I was a part of it, and that meant more to me than I realized.

Lastly, I thought about Higuchi Ryōta, my father and the man who started it all. My life didn't end when he disappeared, and likewise, I had to remind myself that though my mother wasn't here, I _was_. I was here, and I was part of something important, and to be in a safe space with the people who helped make it that was enough for me.

"This one is the tutelary deity of the sea," my father had told me, pointing at the image of a dragon amongst the waves. "Do you know what that means?"

When I hesitantly but curiously shook my head, he laughed, bringing me closer to ruffle my hair. "It means 'protector.'"

"Like you, Papa?"

He grinned.

"Yours? Always."

And so with a smile of my own that I could only muster because I was indeed, in that moment, happy and no longer afraid, I flipped the board over.

 _The Guardian Hero_ , it read.

 _ **Ryūjin.**_

* * *

 **postscript**

midterms just passed and took a lot more out of me than I expected (i had a couple of exams and a few dozen art pieces to complete hence my sudden disappearance lol i was rly dying it's gr8), but after i recharge from that i hope to have some semblance of a schedule (๑•̥̥̥́ω•̀ू๑)

i was kind of worried about having rei smile and laugh so many times in this chapter after what happened in the last, but i thought about my own experiences and decided that it's not so unbelievable to feel fine around other people and then sort of just break down when you're alone. her mood will definitely be fluctuating in the next few days, as humans do!

it's still hard to grasp how many people have left paragraphs upon paragraphs of comments and compliments and constructive criticism. i appreciate all the support and hope this story and these characters inspire you even a fraction of how you've all inspired me. thank you so much for reading, and i can't wait to hear from everyone again soon! ◟(๑•͈ᴗ•͈)◞


	13. Road to Somewhere

No copyright infringement intended.

* * *

—

 **XIII. Road to Somewhere**

—

* * *

Two days had passed since Aizawa-sensei told us about our internships. After Kan-oji mentioned that Fatgum was notorious amongst Pros for his carefree attitude, I came to terms with the fact that the BMI Hero might not have been the best fit to be my mentor, at least not when we only had a week with our sponsors. Reluctant as I was to do so, I had a lot I needed to improve on, and that called for some discipline to keep me in line.

I was on my way to drop off my application when I got to thinking about why I entertained the thought of working with him at all. It was widely known that Yūei was home to some of the most promising young Heroes in the making, but of the few hundred students at our school, the majority considered a group of third years known as The Big Three the best of the best. Togata Mirio, Hadou Nejire, and Amajiki Tamaki boasted more prowess and potential than some Pros in the business.

It didn't mean they were _perfect._

The first time I met Amajiki-senpai, he stared at me for all of three seconds before promptly turning on his heel sans hello or goodbye. He did, however, mutter something about potatoes on his way out, and to my surprise returned less than a minute later with a girl tugging at his arm.

"I'm Hadou Nejire," she declared. "I don't think I've ever seen you around. Are you a first year? How do you know Kan-sensei? Do you have homeroom with him?"

Her smile was pretty and kind, but unlike Ochako, who was cheerful and bright, Hadou-senpai was spirited and very, _very_ curious. The boy she mercilessly dragged back into the room had since ripped away from her grip and spun around to face the board, his chin tucked into the crevice between his collarbones. It wasn't until she noticed the empty space at her side did the questions simmer down.

"Don't mind Amajiki," Hadou-senpai said, stifling her giggles with the back of her hand. "He's a total chicken when it comes to talking to people. His hair even sort of looks like one, doesn't it? Yours is so beautiful!"

I'd fought the urge to step back as she inched forward, but I couldn't help the grimace on my features when her fingers pulled at the spiral strands framing my face. Amajiki-senpai, seemingly used to this sort of behavior from his classmate, sighed and shifted uncomfortably where he stood on my behalf.

"You can't just touch people, Hadou," Amajiki-senpai mumbled, his tone betraying the exasperation I couldn't see on his expression. "I mean you can, but… ah, that's not right…"

"Force of habit, sorry! What's your name again?" Hadou-senpai paused to squint at me and then shook her head. "No, nevermind, I remember seeing you on the news! You're one of the kids in Class 1-A, aren't you?"

Kan-oji made no move to interrupt the increasingly overwhelming conversation and I, in panic, tried not to bury myself into the ground. It wasn't that I was intimidated, per say, but there came a twinge in the pit of my stomach that meant I wanted to make an okay impression on my seniors. Forcing a smile that I was sure appeared slightly out of place, I bowed at the two older teens.

"My name is Higuchi Reiko," I said. "Nice to meet you, Hadou-senpai, Amajiki-senpai."

Needless to say, Amajiki-senpai bailed the moment I introduced myself, and Hadou-senpai rushed after him with a quick flutter of her fingers as farewell. That was the last I saw or spoke to either of them, and I had been so preoccupied by the upcoming Sports Festival at the time that I didn't really take into account the significance of such a minuscule interaction. Titles didn't matter much to me, but the fact that I could learn a lot from them did.

It was, in truth, the prospect of working with Amajiki-senpai that inspired me to consider Fatgum in the first place. He had a manifestation Quirk that allowed him to adopt the characteristics of the things he ingests. It might not have sounded all that impressive on its own, but I'd heard from Kan-oji that Amajiki-senpai mastered it to the point where he could subdue even more prominent Villains on his own.

I knew he had to practice using some kind of trial and error method, and that was essentially what I needed in order to get a grasp on my Quirk. I wanted to train with him for that reason, but tagging along didn't seem to be very productive, especially since he had his own internship to worry about. The next time the third years found themselves on the field, they would be either sidekicks or full-fledged Pros, and in two and a half years, I would be in their place.

The thought alone sent shivers down my spine. It was hard to imagine what life after academia would be like when even now the soles of my feet felt like lead and moving on seemed impossible in just about every sense of the phrase. I couldn't afford to let this opportunity to get better and be better pass by, and so at the top of the page, in my most precise handwriting, I wrote down the name of a person I thought might help me the most.

 _The Number Five Hero, Edgeshot._

As far as Pro Heroes went, Kamihara Shinya was as much of a mystery as Aizawa-sensei, but I'd heard enough about his skills to know that I wanted him to teach me. According to Kan-oji, his Quirk allowed him to manipulate the thinness of his body, and after rigorous training, he could transform faster than the speed of sound. If that didn't foreshadow my blood, sweat, and tears, then I didn't think anything else did, and that was exactly what I needed.

Maybe I was a masochist, but at this point, I couldn't bring myself to care about the minutiae. I was either numb to everything or felt too much all at once, and distractions like this seemed like the only thing that could ground me. It was ironic, really, that coming close to dying was the closest I could get to feeling alive.

"What the hell are you just standing around for?"

I was suddenly, or perhaps not all that suddenly due to having been so lost in thought, standing in front of the teachers' offices. Crimson eyes stared back at me when I glanced over my shoulder, but it wasn't until the blond they belonged to gave me a look that said _are you stupid_ did I notice I had blocked the entrance in my stupor.

"Sorry," I said, skipping the formalities as I turned my attention to the papers in his hand. "Who did you pick for your internship?"

"None of your fucking business."

"I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours."

"What are you, five?" Bakugou snorted, trudging past me to walk inside. "I didn't pick Best Jeanist if that's what you keep trying to pry out of me."

I didn't expect him to hold the door open for me, but he kicked his foot back to keep it from slamming in my face, and that in itself was more than he would've done a month ago. I wondered if it had to do with my recent breakdown, maybe because he was afraid I'd have another one, and then I dismissed the thought entirely. If I could trust any person not to handle me like fragile glass, it was probably the boy who on more than one occasion tried blowing me up himself.

"Well, no, but that's good to hear," I said, trailing behind him. "I wouldn't wish that upon anyone."

"Sounds like you actually know the guy," Bakugou said, unceremoniously dumping his papers on Aizawa-sensei's desk.

I set my application on top of his and shuffled the scattered sheets into a tidy stack, fingers itching as I tried to stall the subject. As I did, Bakugou's brows furrowed into a scowl that was, for once, not facilitated by anger, and I could tell he was growing impatient.

"He was friends with my parents," I said, shrugging. "I saw him around a lot growing up, but that's about it. Not all that fun at parties, if I'm honest."

"Fucking rich people."

"Tell me about it."

"I was talking about you, dumbass."

Just as I was about to respond, I noticed from the corner of my eye that Bakugou had leaned forward to look at what I'd written down. His scowled deepened when I shifted to bar his view, but I stalled for another second before inching out of his way.

"Thought you didn't care?" I asked, lifting a brow.

He scoffed. "I don't."

"Obviously."

"Spill it or shut up," Bakugou grumbled, turning his head away with a huff. I smothered the laugh that threatened to slip from my throat with a poorly disguised cough.

"I picked Edgeshot."

As soon as I said that, Bakugou whirled around and lunged for my application. I stumbled back a few spaces as his fingers gripped the sheet of paper, but fought the urge to swat at his hand, suddenly disconcerted by the look of disbelief in his expression.

"Change it."

"What?"

"Who's fucking deaf now?" Bakugou snapped, slamming the page onto the table. "Pick someone else, fish brain! Like hell am I going to be stuck with you for a fucking week!"

It took a second for his words to register, but once they did I shot forward to grab his application with the same speed he did with mine. His handwriting was messy, less like chicken scratch and more like he just didn't have time to care about neatness, but the name scribbled at the top of the page was unmistakably identical to the one scrawled on mine.

"Oh," I muttered. "Shit."

Ten minutes later, Aizawa-sensei arrived to find Bakugou and I bickering about my choosing another sponsor and promptly shooed us off. He muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like _I don't get paid enough for this_ before telling us on our way out to keep from giving our new mentor any unwarranted stress.

"The moment you accepted his offer," Aizawa-sensei said. "You agreed to represent the school."

The warning laced his words like poison, flooding our systems and leaving us momentarily frozen on the spot. Bakugou and I were far from stupid, but it didn't take a genius to understand what Aizawa-sensei meant to say.

 _Don't make me look bad._

Whatever qualms I had about working with the blond seemed to disappear when I thought about Shinsō spending a week with our homeroom teacher. Aizawa-sensei was an expert at dealing with people who could fight in spite of having had their Quirk stripped away, and the purple haired boy was definitely not that.

Shinsō needed to learn how to be less dependent on his Quirk. He didn't have much of a failsafe in case his opponents figured out that all they had to do to keep from getting affected was not talk, which was risky and potentially dangerous. There was no way Aizawa-sensei was letting him leave without his fair share of bruises, but all things considered, a few sore limbs was a small price to pay for a higher chance of survival.

The more I thought about it, the more I accepted the fact that Bakugou and I could work together in an equally cohesive way. He was probably upset about having to share a sponsor, but I knew he wasn't dumb enough to think that training with me would actually hinder his progress. In fact, he wasn't dumb at all, and I'd bet once he calmed down he'd settle the argument with an empty threat like _just don't get in my way_ to hide the fact that it didn't bother him as much as he let on.

"Whatever," Bakugou mumbled, throwing me a glare on his way to the exit. "Just don't get in my way, Guppy."

I almost laughed.

 _This might actually work out._

* * *

The station was crowded and unusually chilly as a cool breeze courtesy of a departing shuttle swept through the corridor. A cacophony of city sounds mingled with the ceaseless chatter amongst my classmates, each displaying varying degrees of excitement on their expressions as we waited to board the monorails taking us to our individual internships.

"Nervous?" Todoroki asked.

My eyes widened as I instantly dropped my hand, brushing over the lapels of his blazer by accident. I didn't realize that I'd reached up to fix his inside out shirt collar until his eyes peered at me from a much closer proximity than I had intended or anticipated. I almost dissolved on the spot thinking he was talking about my reaction to that, but it occurred to me after a moment that he was talking about our internships.

Any traces of a blush immediately faded when I remembered why we were here. I was prepared to do my part as a student, which meant doing my best to learn and improve my skills, but that was always easier said than done. To say I was ready was both an understatement and an oversimplification meant to pacify my nerves.

"Yeah," I said, fiddling with the satchel that contained my uniform. "Mostly about how a whole internship with Bakugou is going to work out."

Although I was quite versed in dealing with the temperamental blond, Kamihara-sensei was not, and part of me was concerned about whether or not he'd be able to handle it while juggling my fully packed baggage on top of that. Maybe I was just being paranoid, but it wasn't like I wanted the metaphorical skeletons in my suitcase to spill out, and I didn't want to put either of them in a situation where a teacher had to choose between his students.

"How do you know it's going to work out?" Todoroki asked.

"I don't."

"And you're going through with it?"

Todoroki found out about Bakugou and I having the same sponsor at the same time everyone else did (Aizawa-sensei mentioned it in the middle of class, perhaps as revenge for disrupting his free time), and though his words sounded harsh now, I could tell he didn't mean them unkindly. I would've been curious about the outcome of a seemingly impossible scenario, too, if I didn't already convince myself this wasn't that.

"I could say the same thing about you," I retorted.

His lips curved into a frown. "That's not the same thing."

"You have no way of knowing that training under your father again is going to work either," I pointed out. "That's why you're testing it out this week, right?"

I wasn't as surprised as I imagined I'd be when Todoroki said he picked Endeavor to be his mentor. He made enough progress at the Sports Festival to warrant such a bold move and, on a technical note, I couldn't think of anyone else capable of teaching him to control his left side. It needed a trial run because, despite Todoroki coming to terms with it, I could tell he wasn't ready to completely accept the man who made it unusable for him in the first place.

"I guess," Todoroki said, shoving his hands into his pockets. The case with his costume sat by his feet, and briefly, I wondered if he'd already gotten a new one. "I think my old man is more excited about it than I am, though."

"It's not hard to be more excited than someone who isn't excited at all."

His shoulders lifted into a lazy shrug. "I'm not dreading it."

"That's a milestone," I said, biting back a snort. "It's hard to believe we've only been here a few months."

"Are you kidding?"

Todoroki and I looked over at Kaminari, his brows pinched together as he stretched his arms above his head. Sero and Ashido flanked him on both sides, and the pinkette caught my eye, not-so-discreetly winking. Hastily, I ripped my gaze away and switched my attention back to the blond.

"Feels like we've been at school for years," Kaminari groaned, dejectedly hanging his head.

Sero grinned and slapped him on the shoulder. "That's what happens when you fail every test."

"Dude," Kaminari frowned. "I'm offended."

"I think that was kind of the point," I said, bemused.

Talking to more than one person at a time was easy in some aspects and more tiring in others. I didn't have to worry about carrying the conversation, but I had to flip between personas that catered to each individual at the drop of a hat. It saved me quite a bit of trouble when I was around people I already felt comfortable with, and as Kirishima whirled around from his one-sided argument with Bakugou, I couldn't help but wonder when I thought of my classmates as such.

"I thought I did okay on that last quiz, but I totally bombed it!" Kirishima said.

Kaminari frowned. "What score did you get?"

"Like, a seventy—"

"That's a passing grade," Kaminari said, lifting his chin with a huff. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't try appropriating my brand of failure."

"Where the hell do you keep pulling out that kind of shitty ass vocabulary?" Bakugou grumbled.

Sero snorted, shaking his head. "I can't believe you're in the top three!"

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean, Sticky Shit?"

"You're not helping your case, man," Kirishima whispered, slinging an arm over his shoulder. "Take a deep breath and count to twenty."

Bakugou glowered at him. "I'll rip your fucking limbs off."

"That's pretty morbid," I said, lips twitching into an amused grin. "Even for you."

Bakugou redirected his glare at me and took a purposeful step forward, but Kirishima coughed out a nervous chuckle and hardened his arm to keep him in place.

"Should you really be antagonizing him?" Sero snickered, jerking his head over at the fuming blond. "You do know you're the one stuck with him for a week, right?"

"I bet she'd rather spend it with someone else," Ashido cooed.

"Yeah," I said, keeping straight faced as Kaminari joined her in wriggling his brows. "I'm really going to miss Ochako and Yaoyorozu."

The brunette suddenly appeared in front of me, her eyes sparkling as a smile spread across her face. Deku was left gaping at the empty space where she once stood, his face lit up like a pink highlighter and stilled in thought.

"I'll miss you, too, Rei!" Ochako said, looping her arm through mine. "I wish there was a way for us to keep in touch!"

Bakugou gave her a look that very clearly said he thought she was crazy. "What do you think fucking phones are made for, Chipmunk?"

"Stop calling me that!" Ochako snapped, her features twisting into a rather impressive glare.

"Don't tell me what to d—"

"I think that's a wonderful idea, Bakugou-san," a melodic voice interrupted. "Why don't we all exchange numbers?"

The two halted mid-shout and turned to find Yaoyorozu smiling at us, hands clasped in front of her. It was amazing how effortlessly she commanded the attention of every single person in our class, but I suppose I should've expected as much from our Vice President.

"I'm in!" Kaminari exclaimed, his arm shooting up above his head.

Kirishima grinned, digging through his pocket for his phone with his spare hand. "Same here!"

"That's not what I fucking meant!" Bakugou snarled, jabbing his fist into what had unfortunately turned into the redhead's rock solid stomach. "Let me go, Shitty Hair! Touch my phone and I'll blast you to hell!"

Kirishima punched his number into Bakugou's phone, his grin wide and unbothered even as the blond tried to punch him in the face instead. Kaminari was a starry eyed mess watching Yaoyorozu input her contact information, and Sero, Ashido, and Ochako started taking pictures to use as their icons.

The only people in our class who already had my number were the two girls I mentioned earlier. In truth, I wasn't fond of phone calls and had a terrible response time when it came to things like texts and emails, but I didn't have to worry about offending them because they seemed to understand.

At that moment, I felt something nudge my shoulder and looked up to find Todoroki holding out his phone. He didn't look particularly interested in the conversation, but it wasn't hard to guess why he was handing it to me. Reaching into my back pocket, I pulled out my own phone and unlocked it before wordlessly giving him the device.

"You added your nickname," Todoroki said, blinking at his screen.

"Force of habit," I said, shrugging. "I'm not saying you have to start calling me that or anything."

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"I won't start calling you that," Todoroki said, looking a bit bashful. "I don't have a nickname you can call me either."

"I like your name," I said honestly, curious about his sudden awkwardness. "And besides, I should probably get used to calling you Shouto since it'll be your Hero name, too."

Todoroki blinked twice, then a third time, as if he was about to flinch but didn't. I almost asked why when my own voice echoed in my head.

 _I like your name._

 _Shouto_.

"I didn't mean right now! Not unless you—I mean, I just thought since—eventually—" I pinched the bridge of my nose. "I'm going to shut up now."

There were a million things running through my mind in that moment, but I found myself thinking about the sound of his name and the not so sudden realization that I truly did think it was as beautiful as him. As Todoroki pocketed his phone, I heard him let out a breath, and I looked up reluctantly expecting the worst.

"It's the name my mother gave me," Todoroki said, lips twitching into a ghost of a smile. "I like it, too."

My breath hitched in spite of myself. Todoroki mentioned his strained relationship with his parents, but I didn't know any details pertaining to his mom apart from the fact that she had inadvertently given him his scar. Despite that, and despite whatever else happened between them, Todoroki still cared about her a lot.

A small part of me stung with envy as I wished I could have the same relationship with my own mother, but the ill feelings quickly dissipated, replaced by a warmth courtesy of his smile. It was a reminder that not everything revolved around me, perhaps this conversation least of all.

"How are you doing?" I asked, sobering after a beat of silence.

Todoroki shrugged, his expression faltering a bit. "I'm not sure yet."

"Well," I said, pulling at the loose threads on my skirt. "I don't know if this is any consolation coming from me," _me and my bag of skeletons_ , "but I think you're going to be just fine."

I wondered belatedly if that had been the wrong thing to say, but then he looked up and his eyes flickered with a flurry of emotions. The lines on his face seemed to smooth out, and I decided in that moment that I must've done something right.

"Rei?"

Holding back the quip at the tip of my tongue, I turned around to see Deku clutching his phone in his hands and staring at me with a bashful smile. I mimicked the gesture without a second thought, hoping it came across more reassuring than his did.

"Hey, Deku," I said, typing in my name and number. "You're going to Tokyo, right?"

Deku sheepishly bobbed his head. "It's not that far from home, but I'm still kind of nervous."

"No need to worry, Deku-kun," Ochako said suddenly, peeking at him from over my shoulder. "You'll be amazing at your internship!"

"Where're you and Rei gonna go?" Kirishima asked, looking down at the blond still tucked beneath his arm.

Bakugou glared at him.

"Kanagawa," I monotonously replied on his behalf.

"What the hell, man?" Kaminari said, punching his shoulder and cowering when Bakugou growled. "You get to spend a week at the beach with Rei and that totally unattractive expression is still on your face?"

"I think that's just his face," Sero grinned.

"You shitty pieces of—"

"It's a coastal prefecture," Yaoyorozu corrected, stepping forward before Bakugou could lunge at them. "Not quite the beach, though I suppose Higuchi-san will still be very much in her element."

"That's so close to Hakone!" Hagakure gushed, her voice reverberating somewhere to my left. "I've always wanted to go to an onsen!"

"I've been told the view of Mount Fuji from there is quite impressive as well," Shōji said, crossing a pair of his many arms.

Tokoyami looked at him, mildly amused. "Not afraid of heights?"

"Shōji-chan is already tall," Tsuyu said, blinking at the barely visible top of his head. "I don't think he'd be scared of some altitude."

"We should probably ask Kamihara-sensei if we can stop by those hot springs anyway," I absentmindedly mumbled under my breath.

Ashido perked up and leaned towards me. "Did I hear that right?"

"You want to go to the hot springs with Bakugou?" Kaminari screeched.

"Steam from the springs will expand the pores in his palms and subsequently increase the size and strength of his explosions during training," I said bluntly. "I don't suppose I have to explain why I'd benefit from being surrounded by water, do I?"

Tsuyu laughed, Hagakure and Ochako giggled, Jirō let out a snort, and Yaoyorozu could barely hide her smile. Despite her part in the teasing, Ashido playfully clapped Kaminari on the back, her grin stretching at the sight of his reddening ears due to having caught the, for once, unwanted attention of all the girls in our class.

"She's got us there, buddy," Ashido chortled.

From my peripheral, I noticed Bakugou staring contemplatively at nothing in particular, but then he looked up and met my gaze. His eyes now burned less like an angry blaze and more like a stubborn ember, reflecting a sort of curiosity I often saw in Yaoyorozu and, ironically, Deku. If I had to guess, he was probably analyzing what I said about his Quirk, and it wouldn't have surprised me if he already started thinking of additional strategies.

"Looks like I was worried for nothing," Kirishima sighed contentedly, releasing his grip on the blond at last. "If I had to trust anyone to look out for you, it's definitely Rei!"

"Shut the fuck up, Shitty Hair," Bakugou muttered, shoving his fists into his pockets. "I'm just fucking glad I don't have to deal with your dumb ass for a week, too."

"Kirishima-kun is the one who puts up with you the most," Ochako said, puffing air into her cheeks.

"Did you say something, pipsqueak?"

"Pipsqueak?!"

I raised a brow. "What happened to 'chipmunk'?"

"Don't encourage him!" Ochako groaned.

A loud sigh interrupted all of the ongoing conversations, subsequently causing about two dozen heads to turn to the source. Aizawa-sensei had since put away the book he'd been reading to pass the time and looked at us now with tired eyes. Next to him stood Shinsō, who looked equally bored, but lifted a brow as greeting when he saw me staring. He, of course, didn't have to go very far for his internship.

"The trains are here," Aizawa-sensei said, his gaze sweeping over each of his students. "I expect you all to treat the other Heroes with utmost respect."

"Yes, sir!"

I didn't have to look down to know who plowed into me as soon as Aizawa-sensei dismissed us. Chestnut strands tickled my cheek when she wound her arms around my shoulders, and despite the slight discomfort as an inevitable result of our height difference, I managed to curl an arm around her in return.

"See you soon, Ochako."

"Bye, Rei!"

Yaoyorozu flashed a brilliant smile and waved at me with her free hand while the other held onto her suitcase. I nodded back at her with a grin and watched as she and Jirō started walking in the direction opposite to where my train boarded. I turned to find Deku focused on something in the distance, but just as I was about to call out to him, I saw why he was so distraught.

 _He's…_

Iida spared him a glance over his shoulder, smiling through a mask I recognized because I often wore one of my own, but he left without another word. The guilt I felt earlier that week magnified tenfold as I fought to keep my knees from buckling under the weight on my shoulders, and I'd been so caught up in the feeling that I barely registered when a blur of green approached.

"Are you alright, Rei?" Deku asked.

"I'm fine."

"Okay," Deku said, nodding. "I just wanted to say if you wanted to talk about… about anything, really, then please, don't hesitate to call."

His eyes were so green and so wise beyond his years. I wanted to do something to help put him at ease, but all I could give him was another nod, and suddenly I was angry at myself because I knew he deserved so much more than that. I attempted a small, barely there smile, though a smile nonetheless.

"Take care of yourself, Deku," I said.

Deku gave me a final smile of his own, picking up his suitcase from the floor before running off to find his train. I breathed out a sigh and realized when I felt a chill at my side that Todoroki still stood beside me.

"Here," Todoroki said, holding out his hand.

I looked down at the one-yen coin in his palm, staring at it and then at him. "For my thoughts?"

Todoroki didn't respond, but I caught the movement of his nod from my peripheral and smiled a bit.

"I'm worried about Iida," I confessed, frowning again. "I know people process pain differently, but I'm afraid he's just not processing it at all."

"You can't save everyone," Todoroki said, shaking his head. "Not even the best Heroes can do that. Take care of yourself first."

"Myself?"

"Your process seems to involve everyone except you."

I wasn't sure whether to flinch or laugh so I defaulted to a humorless smirk. "That's pretty insightful."

"Maybe you're just easily impressed," Todoroki snorted, picking up his suitcase off the floor.

"Sure," I said, finally looking at him. His eyes met mine instantly and I tried not to pay mind to the fact that it was because he was staring at me the whole time. "Thanks, Todoroki."

He nodded and turned towards where Iida had disappeared earlier, but suddenly paused.

"By the way."

"Yeah?"

"I like your name, too," Todoroki said.

I kept my gaze on his back until his head became a speck of white and red. As soon as Todoroki boarded the train, I promptly spun around to the opposition direction, mouth dropped. The pounding in my ears was loud, but not painful, and I thought for a minute that the organ pumping blood to my cheeks had jumped out of my chest.

 _Don't be stupid, Reiko._

To my surprise, Bakugou and Kirishima remained standing where I left them, but the redhead looked just about ready to leave.

"Sorry, guys, I'm going the other way," Kirishima said, fingers touching his forehead in a salute. "Don't be a stranger, yeah? Later, Rei, Bakugou!"

And then there were two.

"Thanks for waiting," I said half-heartedly, knowing very well that if a miracle happened and the blond did, in fact, willingly stick around, he'd still never admit to it.

"I wasn't waiting for _you_ ," Bakugou grumbled, swinging his suitcase over his shoulder while his other hand stayed in the pocket of his baggy pants. "Shitty Hair wouldn't let me leave until you were done talking to the half and half bastard."

The train heading to Kanagawa wasn't as crowded as I expected it to be on an early morning. I spotted a few empty seats scattered throughout the cart and took one by window. Bakugou plopped down next to me, haphazardly dumping his bag under our feet.

"Don't wake me up unless we're there or dying," Bakugou said, tilting his head back and folding his arms across his chest.

"You're going to sleep like that?" I asked, squinting at his position with furrowed brows. "I really don't want you to wake up grumpier than you already are."

"Fuck off."

An announcement came from the overhead before I could reply.

" _Please stand back from the platform edge until the train has come to a complete stop_. _Passengers, be aware of potential high speeds. We are now departing for Kanagawa."_

* * *

Higuchi Ryōta was four years old when he used his Quirk for the first time.

Time, that is, stilled for only a moment, so fleeting that his parents thought it had been a figment of their imagination or perhaps mere wishful thinking that a boy born into their muggle family would have such an extraordinary talent. It was only when he vanished before their very eyes did they realize that their hopes were not misplaced. He recalled one detail from his trip to the past in which he'd found himself sitting in the back of an out of service taxi.

The radio was tuned to a classical station playing a song he wasn't familiar with, but for some reason or another he could see the keys in his mind's eye, flats and sharps that he was never aware of even in the present. He had no time to dwell on that, however, because just before he disappeared a second time, the cab driver screamed and hit the gas pedal straight into Shibuya Crossing.

Ryōta returned ten seconds later, blinking rapidly and unsure of what he had seen or where he had gone. His parents couldn't get anything out of him apart from his uttering that something bad was going to happen, and he remembered staring at the television broadcasting the local news, waiting and waiting and waiting. _Something really bad's gonna happen_ , he repeated. And then he heard it.

 _"It was reported earlier this morning that there was a major accident in Tokyo's Shibuya Crossing. The death toll has risen. At least a dozen people have now been confirmed dead."_

He wasn't sure what all of those words meant at the time, but he knew, somehow, that the something bad he was waiting to happen already did. It was at that moment, four years old and trembling, did he decide he hated his Quirk.

What was the point of knowing what was going to happen if he was always too late to fix it? What was the point of going back when the only thing waiting for him in the present was the aftermath, all bitter and broken? Premonitions and stalling seconds to steer clear of any problems that should arise. It was a power meant for a coward, and he didn't want to be that.

Higuchi Ryōta wanted to be a Hero.

And he was, for a while.

"His vitals are dropping again, sir," a voice said. "At this rate, he won't make it to the next hour."

Time, whether he liked to admit it or not, had been his friend for as long as he was able to control it. There was no single realm in which it existed due to time, like space, being constant and unbreaking regardless of how malleable it might've been under his fingertips. He had the power to see everything and everyone with the blink of an eye and there were no repercussions because he always observed, never meddled.

"Double the dosage," another person spoke.

"His body can't handle—"

"The child will fix it," came the clipped reply. "I will not say it a third time. Double the dosage."

And he never meddled _because_ he knew of the repercussions. Fiddling with the secondhand was equivalent to toying with nature, and that, for all its worth, was the equivalent of playing God. To some there was only one, and to others there were many, but in no language, culture, myth, or legend was _he_ the entity they had in mind. Ryōta was as mortal as the rest of the world.

Heroes are not gods.

In spite of that, adopting the name Rishi made it apparent that he was expected to be something more, as if protecting mankind meant surrendering his humanity. The difference between those who were born great and those who were born? Death, for those who were born great lived forever in the way those left behind remembered their names, and who better to live forever than the man who sifts through time itself?

The song that was playing in the back of the taxi all those years ago tittered in his mind. His surroundings melted into a swirl of tints, inky like spilled watercolors, and in the blink of an eye, he saw himself sitting in the back of the cab. The driver screamed and hit the gas pedal straight into Shibuya Crossing. Ryōta returned ten seconds later, blinking rapidly and sure of what he had seen and where he had gone.

"Bring the girl."

That day again, and again, and—

" _It was reported earlier this morning that there was a major accident in Tokyo's Shibuya Crossing. The death toll has risen. At least a dozen people have now been confirmed dead."_

* * *

 **postscript**

hello again! next chapter jumps straight into rei and bakugou's first few days of training, and i hope you're looking forward to it ( ᵘ ᵕ ᵘ ⁎) as always, i am so thankful for all of the support. five hundred plus alerts and favorites is honestly five hundred more than I ever expected, so thank you, thank you, thank you.

before i go, below is another response to an anonymous reader. it's not a mandatory read, but it does have to do with the characterization of a major character. if you'd like to skim through it and offer your own words of advice, i'd love any feedback!

without further ado:

 **TamaTama: It's stated in both manga and anime that the Sports Festival was not only a means to garner attention/sponsorships from Pros, but it was an opportunity for students from other courses to show off and possibly receive the chance to transfer into the Hero Course. It worked kind of as an alternative to the entrance exam because of how, in hindsight, unfair it was being geared towards those that had more physical quirks. Your statement is saying that Hitoshi is the only one to actually receive a transfer in a system that has probably been in effect for years, which is untrue. Though it's been said to have been difficult, it wasn't impossible. So even though we don't have any specific, cannonical evidence of someone having done it, it doesn't mean that it's never been done before, either. Just food for thought, as well as me being oddly fixated on a randomly specific detail.**

Thanks for pointing this out! I sort of just added that line about Shinsō being the first and only person to transfer into the Hero course as a seat filler until I figured out how I wanted to explain why and how he ended up in Class 1-A, but I agreed so much with what you said that it ended up bothering me, too, which prompted a change, like, two hours after I posted the chapter. That scene should now say that Shinsō is the only person in their year to transfer, and details pertaining to why he was chosen in the first place will be revealed in the near future. Those who have guessed that Aizawa had might've had something to do with it… well, you're not _wrong_ …

 **TamaTama: There is just one thing that bugged me while reading, and that was how easily Rei formed a friendship with Todoroki. I get that this is supposed to be a TodoxOc story, and also that Rei is good at adapting to the people around her, but I still say that was too easy. Before the sports festival Todoroki was an Ice Prince. He, and I quote, "didn't come here to make friends". His focus was proving he could surpass his father without using that man's half of the quirk. Now that's not to say he couldn't be polite or anything when addressed, but he wasn't one to seek active socialization. So when reading about those two quickly diving into being touchy-feely buddies (the hand holding, yEET)— based loosely off of vague contact but humorous conversation before —then I just kinda cringed. He's also not that much of a smooth operator. If you compare his behavior before and after the sports festival, you'll notice that his own self induced social deprivation has led him to be socially awkward. Yes, he does what he can to make up for it, but he's more like an old man trying to figure out if the kids call this joke a "meem" or a "me-me".**

After reading through the chapters again, I understand what you mean about things being too easy in terms of Rei and her relationship to Todoroki, and admittedly, it _was_ a conscious decision to make him out to be a bit more self-aware of his surroundings in comparison to canon, but I didn't think it was out of character to the point where it hindered the story. The fact that Todoroki is a bit more detached in canon wasn't really a good enough reason for me _not_ to explore their relationship in this way either, mostly _because_ Rei is exceptionally good at catering to people. He even says in the last chapter that he's a better person because of her influence, so it just seems a little counterproductive to keep him stagnant as the canon Todoroki from before the Sports Festival when the reason for his shift in attitude was introduced to him earlier in this story (see: friendship).

I guess I didn't think much of their interactions since I personally viewed them as more than just being "touchy-feely buddies." The scene at the market, for example, was meant to be an intimate moment, but not because they held hands. Todoroki isn't very good at expressing himself with words so his reasons for doing that was to merely show off this aspect of his Quirk in a tangible way. He doesn't really grasp the implication behind such actions and only initiates or complies with them because he sees things specifically as what they mean to him, not how they or even he, himself, might be perceived by other people.

Rei, on the other hand, is almost the exact opposite; she's incredibly self-aware and has, on more than one occasion, reacted to such gestures with a blush because she knows how it looks to others and does, in fact, care about what people think of her. Turning a casual low five into her grasping his hand was a sincere attempt to comfort a friend who was, at the time, spilling some of his deepest, darkest secrets to her, and thoux=gh she was aware of how someone like Kaminari or Ashido would've considered said action, she did it anyway, because as you mentioned, she's good at adapting to the people around her, and that means trusting that Todoroki wouldn't look deeper into something that wasn't there.

To readers like us who know they're going to eventually end up together, the physical touches might seem like more than they're meant to be at the time, but to Todoroki and Rei, there's a reason behind each gesture, and so far all of those reasons have been strictly platonic. It might still seem like it was totally out of the blue, but keep in mind that the two eat lunch together daily (albeit "off camera"), not to mention the fact that this particular scene occurred almost immediately after the USJ incident. With all that time spent together coupled with a near death experience, I thought it was justified to have them rely on each other, even sort of just subconsciously.

Okay, I'm definitely rambling, sorry! I still went ahead and make a few edits in each chapter since, like I said, you made a lot of good points; most if not all of the dialogue remained the same, but little things like smirks turning into passive stares and small smiles were changed in an attempt to remain consistent. Just wanted to convey my personal thought process as coherently and cohesively as possible, which might not have been the best thing to do at two in the morning, so I also apologize if absolutely none of this makes sense. In any case, I really appreciate the feedback, and if you have any more suggestions or critiques, please feel free to share them. Thank you again, and I hope to hear from you (and anyone else reading this) soon!


	14. Signal Flags

No copyright infringement intended.

* * *

—

 **XIV. Signal Flags**

—

* * *

It took less than ten minutes for the cityscape to blur into silver streaks and liquate lines, swirling into scenes straight out of my dreams. I had a talent for falling asleep wherever and whenever I wanted to without much effort, but the lull of a moving vehicle always made drifting off all the more tempting, and I couldn't pretend that staring out the window like a top ten film cliché was enough to hold the boredom at bay.

"I spy something green."

"That tree."

"No."

"… that tree."

"It's not a tree."

"Fuck this shit," Bakugou muttered, throwing me a withering glare. "I'm going back to sleep."

Despite my best efforts to keep the nightmares at arm's length, I fell asleep not long after the blond gave up his short lived attempt at being amiable. I had hoped that the excitement of going back home would keep me up for the two hour trip, but Kanagawa Prefecture, where my parents married and then had me, was so close yet so far away.

The lake house we once lived in was a recurring fantasy, pieced together by a distant memory I clung to desperately, perhaps despondently. I was afraid it would slip through my fingers or burn to the ground. My parents stood at the other side of the tarn with a promise that our family would be together again. That promise, of course, came at the expense of those I met at Yūei vanishing the same way they did.

 _Why couldn't I have both?_

It wasn't a question I needed an answer to anymore. I thought it was because I didn't have the capacity to care about so many people, or maybe I didn't deserve to have those same people care about me. No, I couldn't have both because things didn't work out sometimes, and as much as I hated to admit it, this was one of those times. Nothing more. Nothing less.

And so I slept.

I didn't have any nightmares, but I didn't dream either. It was like I was transported to another dimension of sorts, though unlike the darkness I had grown accustomed to courtesy of my mother's Quirk, the space surrounding me was lit brilliantly, nearly blinding. No lake house. No parents. No friends. I was alone, and yet this time, just _one_ time out of so many possible realities in my mind, I wasn't afraid.

" _Attention, passengers. We are arriving at Yokohama station. Please stand clear of the doors and remember to bring with you all of your belongings. Thank you."_

Marigold strings weaved across the city as sunlight sifted through cotton candy clouds. After taking a second to revel in the warmth, I cracked open an eye and almost breathed out a sigh of relief at the sight. Various blues painted the skies and a cerulean sea. Promise of rain cast a protective shadow over the skyline. In the distance, I caught a glimpse of a ferris wheel spinning on its axis like a massive windmill.

 _It's still there…_

The Cosmo World amusement park was located in the Minato Mirai 21 district of Yokohama, Japan, the capital city of the Kanagawa Prefecture. Last time I was there, I was eight and spent the summer at the lake house in Tokyo Bay. Kan-oji decided to take me a week or so before we had to go back to Shizuoka as some kind of last hurrah. The last time I went before that, I was with my parents.

I worried that my being here again would trigger unwanted feelings for the same reason I could barely sit on my couch these days. My house was the only thing in Shizuoka I tried to avoid, but here, in Kanagawa, the presence of my parents was everywhere and in everything. Even the ferris wheel, aptly named Cosmo Clock 21, epitomized the space and time Quirks they were known and beloved for.

But.

And that was an important _but_.

My house in Shizuoka was built from the ground up to be every bit the architectural masterpiece my mother imagined, but this place was made of all my best memories.

I felt a slight breeze from where the window cracked open that reminded me of the nights I spent standing by the water or sitting on the sand. I was here, and it felt like home, and that took a weight off my shoulders I didn't even know I carried.

"Looks the same," I murmured.

I sat upright to get a better look, and the shift in position startled the blond beside me awake, crimson eyes half-lidded and blinking wearily to adjust to the light. His brows twitched in an honest attempt at a scowl, but to his chagrin and my growing amusement, a yawn escaped from his mouth.

"We fuckin' made it or what," Bakugou slurred, circling his shoulder to smooth out the knots that tangled together in his slumber. "I said not to wake me up 'less we did, Guppy."

"Or dying."

"I'm not dead."

"Obviously," I said, staring out the glass pane. "We're here."

The train slowed down along with our conversation as I took in the familiar views outside. From the corner of my eye, I noticed Bakugou squinting rather inquisitively at me, but he remained silent until the cart stilled to a squeaky halt.

"What's with your face?" Bakugou asked.

I arched a brow, craning my neck to stare at him. "Please elaborate before I deem that an insult."

"You're pullin' the same dopey expression Shitty Hair has whenever he talks about what's his name," Bakugou said, frowning. "Purple Uproar or some shit."

"Crimson Riot."

"I said 'or some shit' for a reason."'

"Don't let Kirishima hear you say that," I quipped, picking up my suitcase from the floor. The blond rolled his eyes, unimpressed, and I knew he wouldn't leave it alone until I answered him properly. "Yokohama is my hometown. I haven't been back in a while."

The peace and quiet we'd grown used to over the duration of the ride was quickly replaced by the bustling of bodies as the other passengers began to stand. I had enough self-awareness to note that nothing about the scene particularly stood out save for the two teens wearing a pair of Yūei uniforms, but despite mirroring a situation in which I typically had to brace myself for an onset of stares and whispers, not a single person looked our way.

"You're not gonna be all sentimental and shit, right?" Bakugou asked, letting out another yawn.

Cosmo Clock dazzled at the edge of a horizon carved so deeply into my memory. To see it again in person after hitting arguably my lowest point meant a lot more to me than I realized. I suppose _sentimental and shit_ wasn't necessarily incorrect, but I recalled the words my father gifted me and knew it was more than that.

 _Don't be afraid to smile when you're happy._

"No," I said, lips curving upward. "It just feels good to be home."

* * *

The first time it became apparent that there was something going on was when three men no more impressive than the average street thug appeared in an abandoned alley north of Tokyo Tower. Two unconscious, one dead, and all they had in common apart from the same unfortunate fate was the pitch black tint tainting their tongues with a fetor of doom and decay.

Mikoto had heard about the incident soon after whispers hit the streets, but it never made headlines, and so like most Pro Heroes at the time, she didn't give it much thought. Random hoodlums didn't pose the same threat as S-level Villains on a steady climb, and for a while, it was well or forgotten when All Might defeated All For One in a battle of epic proportions.

And then more bodies appeared.

The public was kept blissfully unaware of the recurring theme that tied them together, darkened tongues that turned those who were once suspects into victims of a crime that no one was able to prove, not the Police Force nor the Heroes who pledged to protect the people. Drunk bastards, homeless folks, prostitutes, runaways, all humans like the rest of the world, but—

 _People who wouldn't be missed._

No one was willing to save them.

It was only a stroke of luck and perhaps a bit of detective work that led her to the supplier distributing the drugs wreaking silent havoc throughout the city. In the six years since those first sets of bodies turned up, the plot had thickened into an unbreachable wall that remained until she landed on the briefcase in her hands.

"Have you shown this to Tsukauchi?"

"No."

"You should."

"The drug hasn't been diluted yet," she said, her crimson eyes poised to strike like a pair of knives. "It might be airborne if we open the case, and the only way to get rid of the vials is to turn them into ash."

Todoroki Enji grunted as she thrust the case forward, slamming it against his chest. Just by looking at it, he could tell that the shell was bulletproof and likely resistant to a number of common Quirks, which was evidence enough that there was something extremely important hiding inside. Like all Heroes, specifically those ranked in the top ten, he was just as aware that having such an item in their possession entailed high stakes for those involved. It didn't bode well for anyone.

"Where did you find this?"

"A supplier."

"And the supplier?"

Mikoto pursed her lips. "Dead."

"What have you gotten yourself into?" Enji growled, closing his fist around the handle of the briefcase.

Despite his trepidation about the situation, his hand blazed with a small flame that expanded until it engulfed the entirety of the metal exterior. Mikoto turned on her heel, and the shadow pooling at her feet expanded into a circle that swirled around her form like a protective cocoon.

"I didn't kill him," Mikoto said, nearly rolling her eyes. "Get rid of that and I'll get out of your hair. There's another potential source here in Hosu, but I'll take the fight elsewhere if it comes down to that."

"Who else knows?"

"You, Tsukauchi, the rest of the Top Ten. I had to call in a favor from Knuckleduster as well."

Enji clicked his tongue, hands heavy with a lump of peeling aluminum. "You've stooped low enough to seek help from Vigilantes?"

"I'll do what I must," she said, cloak fluttering with the evening breeze. "You and I both know who is responsible. I need to find them and cut off the supply at its source."

He scowled and crossed his arms, his flames flickering once before dying down. The case, or at least whatever was left of it, fell to the ground, but instead of hitting the pavement, it disappeared into a black hole that instantly shrunk into nothingness.

"Don't do anything reckless."

"You should know better," Mikoto said, fading into a ghostly silhouette. All that remained was the dulcet tone of her voice reverberating through the darkness of the dimly lit street. "It's far too late for that now."

* * *

Kamihara Shinya was everything and nothing at all like I expected him to be. He was one of the more well-liked Heroes in recent generations, and as a result, his fan base rivaled the likes of those with undeniable celebrity status such as Best Jeanist, the Snake Hero Uwabami, and to my dismay, perhaps even my parents.

The only difference was that he didn't put in nearly as much effort into maintaining an image, but I didn't blame him considering said image made him popular _because_ it was non-existent. In fact, I had assumed all that meant he'd be quite similar to someone like Aizawa-sensei.

"Are you the pizza delivery?"

I was wrong.

"What the fuck," Bakugou mumbled under his breath. I jabbed my elbow into his side and he glared at me from the corner of his eye. "What the fuc—"

"You're really going to say it again?" I hissed, leveling my gaze with the man standing in front of us.

"I don't care," Kamihara-sensei said, shoving his hands into the pockets of his trousers. "The delivery thing was a joke, by the way. I know who you are," he paused to step aside, allowing us to peek into the inn behind him. "And the pizza came an hour ago."

Bakugou and I exchanged bewildered glances, less so at his behavior than the fact that whatever preconceived notions we had of him had been utterly destroyed in that moment. I suppose I should've known better than to make assumptions in the first place, especially since I'd been dealing with the same thing and made no secret of how much I hated them, but that didn't take the shock factor off finding out that one of the most taciturn Heroes was actually sort of cool.

"My name is Kamihara Shinya," he said, leering at us with his single visible eye. "Have you eaten yet?"

"About two hours ago."

"That will do," Kamihara-sensei said, taking out a pair of cardkeys. "We'll be sharing the same unit, but there are separate rooms. Take your pick and then meet me at Cosmo World before the next hour."

The lady at the front desk offered us a kind smile and I politely returned it with a dip of my head. I turned to the clock perched on the wall directly above the front desk. 5:47. The next hour was in thirteen minutes, and based on where the inn was located, it would've taken at least half an hour to get to Cosmo World by car in addition to the time we needed to change into our Hero costumes.

"That—"

I bit the inside of my cheek, biting back the words ready to spill out of my mouth. I was about to say impossible, but the way Kamihara-sensei raised his brow as if daring me to finish my sentence was a solid reminder that the whole point of this was to find ways around that.

"Sounds fun," I said.

Despite the mask covering most of his face, I could tell Kamihara-sensei was a little amused. I could also tell that Bakugou was ready to explode, probably reaching the same conclusion I did, and quickly tugged at his wrist to keep him from saying anything that might, in his own words, come back to bite us in the ass.

"Third door to your left," Kamihara-sensei said. "Don't be late."

I mustered an awkward smile and spun on my heel, all but dragging the blond to our apparent home away from home for the next week. He snatched his arm away and let out a scoff once our mentor was out of hearing range, but when I turned to look at him, his brows remained furrowed.

"Are you fucking blind?" Bakugou muttered, slinging his suitcase over his shoulder. "We're not going to make it in time."

His frown deepened when I ignored him and stuck my cardkey into the slot. As soon as it turned green, I rushed inside and took a moment to scan the layout of the suite. A small kitchen parallel to a den area near the entrance forked into the individual rooms Kamihara-sensei had mentioned, but I didn't bother putting too much thought into it and instinctively pivoted to the one on the left.

"It's been two minutes," I called out, throwing my suitcase onto the floor mat. "We have about three to change!"

I took the lack of response as Bakugou catching on to my plan and left him to get dressed. My uniform fell to the floor in an unorganized heap, but I paid no mind to the mess and quickly replaced it with my bodysuit. I tugged at the flask clipped to my hips to make sure it was firmly attached, and lastly came the boots and fingerless gloves that slipped on with ease.

Bakugou met me out in the den with a few seconds to spare completely dressed save for the bandana haphazardly tied around his eyes. I fought the urge to fix it and peered out the nearest window, nearly breathing a sigh of relief when I saw that the inn was conveniently perched by the docks.

"Ready?" I asked.

"For what?"

"We're going to jump."

I slammed the glass open and brought my legs over until I hung off the side of the building. Bakugou clicked his tongue and climbed onto the sill after me, his eyes sharp and focused on the water swirling directly below us. After a second, I released my grip and fell onto a solid block of ice just large enough to fit two people.

As soon as the blond landed at my side, I pointed my hands towards the water. The frost at his feet turned back into liquid for a moment before they froze again, this time strapping him down, and I used the waves to propel us forward.

"Think we can get there in six minutes?" I asked.

Bakugou snorted, braciers lighting up. He thrust his arms out behind him, subsequently releasing a massive explosion that sent our makeshift boat careening across the bay.

"I'll get us there in five."

* * *

Mikoto had been in far too many alleys lately, and quite frankly, she was growing tired of it. The stench was abhorrent, the dust triggered her allergies, and the handful of rats she could hear rustling through the garbage didn't ease her already lackluster appetite.

There was only one aspect of this mission she found bearable, and as one would expect from the Spacial Hero Kamino, it always came in the form of shadows. Some might say it was a coward's fight to lurk in the darkness and strike when opponents least expected her, but Mikoto was always quick to point out the stark difference between difficult and important.

As she learned firsthand from years of experience, some of the most significant battles often had little to do with physical strength, but that didn't mean she couldn't throw a punch. Few people knew of her prowess when it came to hand to hand combat, a conscious decision she made long before she was even considered for the top ten, and Mikoto had no qualms with using that to her advantage.

"You are unlike the others."

The man in front of her dropped to a crouch, beady eyes surveying her movements as he unflinchingly pulled out the senbon in his shoulder. A string of blood trickled down his arm, and though it felt little more than a measly paper cut, the needle struck a pressure point that would leave the limb useless for a few minutes at least.

It was a technique oddly similar to his own Quirk and a feat almost as impressive as it was irritating, especially since they both knew a few minutes was more than enough time to take down an enemy had this been a fight. It wasn't, of course. For all intents and purposes, it was an interrogation.

"I'm aware," Mikoto said, twirling another senbon between her fingers. "Now tell me where it is and I may consider leaving your mind in tact."

He mimicked her action with the blade in his hand, a once sharp silver that had since been stained into a scarlet sword. "And yet here you are again with such transparent lies."

"Listen well, Hero Killer," Mikoto said, the words as concise and cutting as her crimson glare. "I am many things, but I am no liar."

"Are you Hero?"

Mikoto stayed quiet for a moment, but she didn't have to ponder the question. Her answer was embedded in the choices she made to get to that point, and though she deemed those choices necessary, it didn't mean she was proud of them.

"I was," she said.

The darkness seeped through his skin, colonizing until the veins in his body turned into threads of black and clouds of smoke filled his lungs. He had nowhere to run that she wouldn't find him, or perhaps—no, the Hero Killer still had the world at his fingertips, but she now held the power to bring him to his knees. His freedom, however much of it remained, dangled before him scarcely out of reach.

None of that mattered in the end.

Her Quirk was facilitated by fear, and fear was something Stain lacked long before he became known as a serial murderer. True nightmares were in his roots, planted deeply in the soils of his victims, for the man who killed Heroes was almost one himself. The most horrifying thing about him, in truth, was that the Hero Killer had ideals and morals of his own, and that he was as human as the rest of them.

Despite their current stalemate, Mikoto knew he wouldn't kill her, and in turn she'd let him escape, no frills or fuss. It wasn't a compromise so much as it was a silent agreement that both sides shared a single enemy who needed to be taken care of first. Trigger was spreading at an alarming rate, and no matter how much they differed, they had their reasons for wanting to stop it.

"I despise people like him," Stain rasped, his throat clogged by the sheer dominance of her aura. All he needed was a drop of blood to even the playing field, but she remained untouched and undeterred. "Such childish tantrums masked to exude the illusion of authority while as inexperienced as those he deems a nuisance."

"I need a name."

"His name is of little importance to me," Stain said, letting out some semblance of a scoff. "I cannot pretend to be interested in his goals, much less how he goes about fulfilling them, though I will admit he is far from craven."

"Tell me where to find him," Mikoto demanded, allowing no room for digression. "What is he planning?"

"I have no concern for his paroxysm," his fingers twitched, and the gesture didn't remain unnoticed. "But since it appears _you_ do, I'd inform your so-called Heroes to line the streets in due time."

"How much time?"

"Not enough," Stain muttered, his eyes gleaming with a vague, albeit misplaced sort of sympathy. "You must know I held your husband in high regard. He was one of the few undeserving of such a cruel fate."

"Don't speak of my husband," she said indignantly, aiming her second sliver of metal at his other arm. It bounced off the knife that he held up not a moment too soon, and though the action was intended to be more of a warning than an attack, his ability to move raised an immediate red flag in her mind.

''I apologize," Stain hummed. "I might've upset him."

"No-Name?"

The blade in his hand glinted from the glow of the moon. Night was crawling, and he was more than aware of the fact that he had to leave before she became one with her element.

"He is not only childish. He is still a child. I doubt he'll have the patience to wait more than a few days."

Stain threw the knife at her with blinding speed, but Mikoto was prepared for it. The wisps of ink coiling behind her spun into a blackhole that sent the weapon hurtling back towards its master. He caught it with frightening ease and brought the razor to his mouth, his tongue darting out to swipe at the crimson liquid blemishing the steel.

Her blood.

Mikoto felt her body freeze as if invisible strings kept her in place. It was enough to allow her adversary to slip out of his own chains, stumbling through the shadows to settle underneath the beam of a flimsy streetlight. The unspoken agreement still stood. He would spare her life, and she would allow his freedom.

"I have unfinished business here in Hosu," Stain said, taking a step forward. "I understand that you do as well. If you decide to get in my way," his eyes narrowed. "I will not hesitate to end you."

"I will not hesitate to do the same," Mikoto seethed, her eyes absolutely burning.

Stain nodded and disappeared into the city bustling with beats and white noise. Conversations of all kinds mixed together from every nook and cranny in addition to cries of sadness, screams of anger, unadulterated laughter. Hosu was, by and large, home to thousands of people with real feelings and emotions, fears and loves. And she had granted a killer the opportunity to strip them of everything.

 _I'll do what I must._

To protect the real world, Mikoto had to watch hers crumble, but it didn't occur to her that there'd be casualties she hadn't accounted for along the way. Though he had spoken in riddles, Stain had given her ample information, and that intel was more than enough to guess where Trigger would make its appearance within the next few days. Her every instinct told her to follow the lead and take down the syndicate responsible for such a monstrosity, but—

Another monster was now out on the loose in a city whose only sin was that it allowed people like her to stick around. It was a blot on the landscape marked entirely by her selfishness, and for all she said about no longer being a Hero, she'd be damned if she sat still in the midst of his rampage.

Mikoto regained mobility after another couple of seconds contemplating her next play. The phone in her pocket felt heavy with another favor she knew would have to burden another old friend, but she was out of options, and they were out of time. Trigger was spreading at an alarming rate.

Three rings.

"Mikoto?"

"We have a problem, Sekijirō."

* * *

The block of ice Bakugou and I stood on collapsed to the ground as my arms dropped like a pair of limp logs. According to the numbers blaring across Cosmo Clock, we ended up cutting it a little too close for comfort, but considering we literally had to cross an ocean to get here, I wasn't trying to be overly picky.

"Looks like you made it," Kamihara-sensei said, seemingly impressed. "I have to admit, you did better than I expected."

"What are we doing at this lame ass theme park?" Bakugou muttered, kicking off the extra frost at his ankles.

"It's a test to see how well the two of you work together," Kamihara-sensei nodded his head at the giant hoop spinning slowly in the distance. "Get on the ferris wheel and don't come down until you learn three things about each other you didn't know before today."

"What?"

I exchanged a bewildered glance with the equally perplexed blond beside me. His brows furrowed into a scowl directed at our nonchalant instructor and the fingers at his sides trembled with what I was sure an itch to blow something up.

"This is some kind of team building shit, isn't it?" Bakugou asked, frowning. "How is playing twenty questions going to help?"

He had a point, though I didn't voice the thought aloud. I knew little else about him than what I cared enough to observe, but Bakugou and I probably had the best teamwork out of any other duo in our class. It was a bit ironic that Edgeshot, of all people, told us that sharing our secrets would improve that bond, especially when personal details, or a lack thereof, never deterred us from working together in the past.

"You'll be surprised," Kamihara-sensei said, handing us a fistful of ride tickets. "There's a couple of hours until the park closes. Feel free to stick around if you finish early, but fair warning, combat training will start tomorrow morning."

With that, his body twisted into an attenuated figure that became practically invisible to the eye. I couldn't believe any single human was capable of such speed. It was my first time seeing his Quirk in person, and despite being right in front of him, he used it so incredibly fast that it looked like his body simply vanished into thin air.

"This is fucking stupid," Bakugou grumbled, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I didn't come here to be all buddy-buddy with you."

I let out a hum in agreement, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that Kamihara-sensei was counting on us to depend on each other as much as we did on him. It'd be hard to trust someone I hardly knew anything about, much less someone who knew just as little about me, and trust was something we needed if we wanted to survive an entire week together.

As we stood in line to board the ferris wheel, I couldn't help but think about the first and last time I was here with my parents. It was one of the few memories I still had of us all together, and though I was perfectly content to be back home in Kanagawa, it was still a bit strange to be here without them.

"Three questions," I said.

"Why?"

"Is that the first question?"

"Fuck off," Bakugou deadpanned. "Your fight with Deku."

I gave the girl managing the ride a curt smile as she took our tickets. Her gaze trailed behind me to land on the blond, and I bit back a snort when her cheeks flushed a pretty pink.

"That's definitely not a question," I said, stepping into the cart.

Bakugou climbed in after me, ignoring the heart eyes locked on the back of his head. "What the fuck happened?"

"It's a long story."

"We've got a shitload of time."

"I was going through some stuff at the time and it obviously showed during the match," I said, sighing as I thought back to the fight. "Things got worse after I found out some unfortunate news about Kamino."

"The Pro Hero?"

"My mother."

"Damn."

"I know."

"Why'd you go to Yūei?" Bakugou asked.

I pursed my lips and settled in the seat across from him, staring blankly at the views surrounding us. The sun had long since set, turning the blue skies I'd grown up seeing every morning into a canvas of deep indigo splattered with stars, and the sea shimmered from the reflection of the moon.

"My parents graduated from there, and I guess my mom wants me to follow in her footsteps. To be honest, I just didn't think it was worth arguing with her," I shook my head, sighing again. "I hated being talked about. It happened a lot because of my parents, and even though people didn't know they were talking about me, it still sucked."

"I'm here because I'm going to be the best fucking Hero there ever was," Bakugou said, his eyes igniting with a fire that I'd seen on more than one occasion. "Drop out now if you don't think you're cut out for this shit. Guppies in a fucking shark tank wouldn't last a day in the real world."

"I've lived in the real world," I muttered, tracing my eyes over the shadows shaping the city skyline. "It isn't all it's cracked up to be."

I exhaled through my nose and shook my head a second time to clear my mind. No matter what Kamihara-sensei intended, it wouldn't do either of us any good to take this conversation in the direction it was currently headed. I could still get to know someone without exposing my entire life story.

"What's your favorite color?" I asked, glancing at the nearly unseen ocean a ways off.

"Seriously?"

"Mine is blue."

He didn't say anything for a second, but then I heard his gruffly muttered, "Red."

I turned to look at him, a bit surprised that he caved so quickly. He slouched into his seat, shoulders not quite as stiff as usual, and the creases on his forehead smoothed out into a clear slate.

"I had to learn how to play a bunch of instruments as a kid. Piano, flute, clarinet, guitar," I said, humoring him. "Fucking rich people, right?"

Bakugou scoffed, rolling his eyes. "I had to take fucking drum lessons."

"Yeah?"

"It was annoying as hell, but the hag wouldn't let me quit."

At this point, the ferris wheel had stopped at its peak, and I almost didn't hear him speak with how enamored I was at the scene below us. Lights glimmered in the skies and all throughout the city. I felt like I was in a field of flowers, except instead of petals, I was surrounded by stars, and something about it gave me a sense of peace that had been largely absent these past few years.

I started thinking mostly about people, everyone from my parents, to Iida and his brother, to the blond sitting across from me, and to my friends scattered across the country at the moment. There were people I wanted to see, some admittedly more than others, and I wondered why I didn't admit beforehand that I'd miss him like the rest of them.

 _Him?_

I caught myself thinking about a specific silver and turquoise that often reminded me of the stars and the sea. As someone who didn't have many friends growing up, much less any crushes, I knew I started out feeling flustered around him because I didn't have experience dealing with boys. It was a common phase and nothing worth either of our concerns at the moment.

But I wasn't stupid.

I could just as easily admit that Bakugou was handsome, to which the girl drilling holes into his face only a few minutes earlier would've readily agreed, but that confession didn't elicit a particular emotion. It was the same thing with Deku, Kirishima, Kaminari, Shinsō. Even Amajiki-senpai. I was a teenager in high school surrounded by dozens of prospective crushes, and yet, despite that, I always gravitated to my left.

Maybe it didn't mean anything now, and considering everything going on with me lately, it might not mean anything for a while, but there must've been a reason why I thought of him every time I saw something this beautiful. I just wasn't sure I wanted to unravel the science behind that theory quite yet.

"Are you done?"

My eyes fluttered in surprise as I turned to Bakugou with a dumb stare, blinking and bashful once the subject of my thoughts settled in. He looked at me with raised brows, his arms crossed as he was now sprawled across the bench in an unmoving position.

"Sorry," I said, thinking about my last question. "How do you feel about how your match with Todoroki turned out?"

"I hauled ass and he took me down with a super fucking effective flamethrower."

"Was that a video game reference?"

"No."

"I think it was."

"You're so fucking annoying," Bakugou muttered, rolling his eyes. "Doesn't matter since I won't fucking lose to him again. Isn't it my turn to ask something, anyway?"

Bakugou regarded me with an unnervingly serious stare, and I nodded. I expected a question that required a little less thought since it would've gotten us off the ride faster, but nothing could have prepared me for his next few words. It was something I pondered often myself, and yet to hear someone else say it out loud and with genuine curiosity that I couldn't even be mad at—

"Why do you want to be a Hero?"

* * *

 **postscript**

we've recently hit 700 follows and are about halfway to 600 favorites, which absolutely blows my mind. i have the next two chapters written since it ended up being one massive novel split into three parts, but i sort of burned myself out in the process of completing it, so those updates will be spread out in the next week or two while i work on my other stories. thanks for being so patient! i've grown quite attached to this story and to be part of a community that never fails to shower it with love and support is something i will be eternally grateful for.

this is where i give up on punctuation entirely

"i always look to my left."

todoroki sat to her left, and after they switched their seats… his new desk is still to her left… i don't suppose i have to explain how it relates to his left side, but… his left eye also reminds rei of the ocean, which is, as she mentioned in this chapter, her favorite thing…

:')

that bit wasn't supposed to be in this chapter but i think a rly important line is "there must've been a reason why i thought of him every time i saw something this beautiful" bc she could've thought about anything in that moment but being in her favorite place and sort of reveling in the beauty of all her favorite things, she thought of him, and since that's going to be the extent of their relationship for a while, i figured it wouldn't hurt to shed some light on how content she feels just to be around him, platonic or otherwise

anyway, thank you so much to everyone who has in some shape or form given part of yourself to these characters, be it with your time or your reviews or simply investing the energy in empathizing with rei. i know i'm borderline sappy right now, but i can't say enough how much i appreciate your efforts, and how thankful i am to be here. as always, thank you for reading! (❁´ω`❁)


	15. Airwaves

No copyright infringement intended.

* * *

—

 **XV. Airwaves**

—

* * *

"This is all your fucking fault."

My eyes rolled for the umpteenth time that afternoon, shoving a stray elbow away from where it purposefully stabbed me in the side. Bakugou and I sat in a tangled heap on the shore of an isolated Kanagawa beach after Kamihara-sensei thought it'd be a good idea to have us start combat training at four in the morning. I didn't appreciate waking up at such an ungodly hour, but I didn't think too much of it, that is, until he gave us custom made braces that increased in weight each time we failed to beat him.

"I told you to pivot," I grumbled.

Bakugou frowned. "And?"

"You ducked!"

"He was about to rip my head off!"

Despite the unusual amount of effort we put into working together, Kamihara-sensei possessed a level of speed unparalleled to anything either of us had ever seen before, save for perhaps the Number One Hero himself. I understood that the point of the weights was to help improve our agility and stamina, but at that point I felt like it would've been easier herding a bunch of cats.

"I'm not sure now is the best time for this conversation," Kamihara-sensei said. "You have five minutes to regroup before I come at you again."

His body disappeared into nothingness and I let my head fall back against the sand, lazily throwing an arm over my eyes to block out the sunlight as dozens of possible strategies sifted through my mind. The weights hit roughly sixteen pounds with that last spar, and though it made dodging attacks a pain in just about every crevice of my anatomy, I could tell my reflexes got faster if only because of the pure paranoia that came with trying to anticipate where Kamihara-sensei would strike next.

But that was just it.

He always knew where to strike next.

Kamihara-sensei was fast, but his Quirk allowed little room for planning ahead, and that left him no choice but to attack his opponents in places convenient and quite obvious in hindsight.

Bakugou, for example, had bruises on his shoulders and back, which made sense considering frontal attacks would've left Kamihara-sensei susceptible to getting his face blown off. I took the majority of blows in my arms because he knew as much as any person with a functioning pair of eyes that I relied heavily on those particular limbs to fight.

This, for all intents and purposes, was where divination came in handy. I'd never attempted to manipulate liquid through sheer willpower alone, but if I could feel it in the air merely with my senses, there was no reason why I shouldn't be able to maneuver it in the same way.

The closest I'd ever gotten was probably when I stopped Shigaraki Tomura from moving during the fight at USJ. I wanted him to stop, and then he did. If anything good came out of that confrontation, it was the realization that pretty much anything was fair game for me.

"He's aiming at our blind spots," I muttered, keeping my eyes shut. "But I think I know how to stall him long enough to get in a few punches of our own."

There was a beat of silence.

"Well?"

I sighed in relief, bringing my arm down to look at him. Bakugou had insane reflexes himself, but it was apparent in the way he moved that he had little to no experience with quickfire close combat. His Quirk, in fact, was built for long range attacks that required at least a couple of seconds to charge.

For the most part, though, he did a good job at keeping opponents a safe distance away, hence why he barely had any scratches on him after our match against Iida and Deku all those months ago. Because of that, though, he was pretty much a sitting duck once someone through his defenses.

I'd heard that his fight with Kirishima lasted longer than expected due to the redhead making it near impossible for him to use his Quirk. Kirishima was a close range fighter, after all, and if my suspicions were correct, Bakugou must have had no choice but to focus on dodging because it was all he could do.

I intended to fix these flaws over the course of our internship, but for now we had to find a way to work around them. As much as it helped that Bakugou was actually willing to listen to me, the weights dragging us down posed a first and definite problem.

"Your defense sucks," I said bluntly, grappling to take hold of the perspiration collecting at my palms. "Like, really sucks, which should make it easy for you to purposely take a hit."

"I knew it," Bakugou muttered. "She's out to get me 'cause she got decked in the fuckin' face."

"She can still hear you," I retorted, shaping tiny bullets with the beads of sweat. "As I was saying, enduring an attack we've anticipated ahead of time should give us enough time to strike back."

"Deku did that during your match."

"Yeah, I got the idea from him. Might be better for you to stay up in the air until Kamihara-sensei is distracted."

"That'll be annoying as shit with these lame ass weights," Bakugou said, his eyes suddenly catching sight of the pellets hovering a few inches above my skin. "What the fuck are you doing?"

The liquid momentarily slipped from my grasp, and I couldn't help but sigh in disappointment.

"Trying to see if I can use my Quirk with just my brain."

"You can."

"What?"

"You can," Bakugou repeated, frowning. "Didn't you stop that shitty Villain with that freaky blood thing?"

"That's different," I said, bewildered. "It was that or die—"

"You're so fucking dramatic," Bakugou rolled his eyes and sat upright, shaking his head several times to get rid of the grains stuck to his hair. "I'm just saying you'll get a lot further if you suck it up and grow a damn spine."

My mouth dropped open to argue, or maybe it was out of total mortification, I couldn't tell. His words felt like another fist in the face, and as if daring me to retort, Bakugou crossed his arms and raised a brow. I was left gaping until I promptly remembered that time for us was of the essence and settled for an uneasy shake of my head.

"Kamihara-sensei should be here any second now," I said, standing to my feet. "Got the plan down?"

"Talk shit, get hit."

"That's not—"

Bakugou zipped to the sky a good few seconds before I could finish my sentence, which he was probably better off doing since I ended up getting sucker punched again not a moment later. The blur that shot at me then streaked toward the blond, but despite my back burning against the sand, I managed to bring my arms up over my head to catch him.

"Fuck!" Bakugou wheezed.

I managed to stop him mid-drop with _the freaky blood thing_ , but my knees buckled at how much heavier he was thanks to the weights. Knowing fully well that Kamihara-sensei was going to attack me next, I sent the blond hurtling back towards the clouds and used the last bit of energy I had to pinpoint the plasma in another specific set of veins.

It was about as fleeting as the flash on an old polaroid, but it was there, and I felt it. In contrast to how heavy Bakugou had been, Kamihara-sensei felt featherlight due to how thinly his body was currently transmuted. I smothered the gut instinct telling me to move out of the way, and the second he made contact with my skin, I forced his blood toward the blond already waiting for him with a preloaded fist.

 _Boom!_

Bakugou descended to the space at my side, ready to attack again when Kamihara-sensei materialized in front of us. He looked so utterly unbothered that I would've never guessed he spent the past twelve hours kicking butt had it not been ours he was trashing in the first place. To my surprise, however, he rewarded us with a pleased nod.

"Better," Kamihara-sensei said. "I don't suppose that helped sort out the things you need to work on this week, did it?"

"It did," I said.

"And the consensus?"

"I've always had less than average stamina, but sparring with these weights made the limited range of my Quirk glaringly evident on top of that."

"You've been trained in hand-to-hand before, haven't you? By your mother, I presume?" Kamihira-sensei asked.

"Yeah," I said, holding out my hands in front of me. "That's why I depend so much on my physical body. It's almost like I have a need to shadow box every time I use my Quirk, always moving, never still. The more I think about it, though, the more I realize that I should have no problem merely willing a liquid to move."

"'Should' being the operative word."

"Unfortunately."

"What about Bakugou?" Kamihara-sensei asked, looking at the blond.

"He hasn't received any proper hand-to-hand training at all, but I don't doubt he'll be a natural at it. That'll save us some time to work on his defenses since they're pretty much non-existent. In conclusion—"

"Fucking nerd," Bakugou muttered.

I fought the urge to roll my eyes again, but miserably lost. "Our strengths are each other's weaknesses and vice versa."

"Sounds about right," Kamihara-sensei said. "Let's stop for today, but keep the weights on for the rest of the week. Individual training starts tomorrow."

* * *

Mikoto stood in front of the witnesses she gathered, crimson eyes poised with purpose and quite frankly more confident than a runaway Hero should've been.

All Might and Endeavor sat on opposite sides of each other with similar exigent expressions while detective Tsukauchi Naomasa took the rear end of the table, his brows furrowed in overt concern. Tsunagu leaned back against the chair to her right, hands clasped tightly, and on her other side was Sekijirō, stone faced though perhaps the most distraught of all.

"I appreciate you all being here despite such short notice," Mikoto said. "Take the lead, detective."

"There's substantial evidence suggesting that the League of Villains is responsible for the recent influx of missing persons cases," Tsukauchi said, his eyes cast forward. "The Nōmu we have in custody has proved to be genetically altered, possessing an amalgamation of Quirks from multiple people. I've already discussed it with All Might, but I presume everyone else in this room is aware of the implications such a discovery entails."

"Impossible," Tsunagu said, shaking his head. "Last we heard from him, he was practically dead."

"Humans cheat death all the time," Mikoto said, fixing her crimson gaze on the green defiantly staring back at her.

"He's scum, not human."

"I've seen worse."

A moment of silence seemed to drag on as her colleagues dissected the meaning behind her words. It came as a surprise for all of them when they received the text urgently asking to meet, but not more so than her abrupt disappearance the week prior. To be having a conversation that was off the books in addition to the fact that she sat here mercilessly owning up to her mistakes meant there was more going on than any of them realized.

"Why are we here?"

Mikoto glanced at her oldest friend from the corner of her eye and found that he was already looking at her, amber cutting sharply but without the malice that would've turned it into a glare she knew she rightfully deserved.

"I have information that pertains to the case," Mikoto said.

Sekijirō narrowed his eyes. "And how did you get this information?"

"You know as well as I do that I can't disclose that," she said, turning her head away. "I do, however, have reason to believe that the current face of the League, Shigaraki Tomura, is acting on his behalf."

"I'm sorry, Kamino, but we need more than that," All Might said, brows furrowed and the signature grin he always sported turned into a deep set frown. "It won't do us any good to storm in without some semblance of what's happening, assuming we can even find them in time for whatever they have planned."

Her lips pursed into a dismal line as she thought back to what Stain had said about Heroes out on the streets. From what she had heard about Shigaraki Tomura, he was an attention seeker with rather petty motives, but such motives were enough to drive him into doing something as reckless as storming a Yūei facility to take on the Symbol of Peace himself. Childish tantrums masked to exude the illusion of authority described him far too well for it to be a random twist of fate.

"We don't have to find them," Mikoto said, her mind spinning in different directions, trying to find some way to connect. "Shigaraki seeks attention and these Nōmu are partially enhanced due to the drug known as Trigger."

"Trigger?" Tsunagu exclaimed. "The drug that boosts a person's Quirk whilst simultaneously weakening their sense of self."

Tsukauchi nodded, and the mere thought of humans getting injected with such a vile substance made him grimace. He saw firsthand the effects the drug had on people, and for one individual to have to go through that along with housing various powers in their body, it was no wonder that Nōmu turned into the unresponsive shell it was now.

"What's the correlation between the two?" Enji asked, frowning. "These Villains want people to know their name, but what does Trigger—"

The realization hit.

"They're building an army," Mikoto finished for him.

* * *

Kanagawa was beautiful all around, but I had never seen a view quite as magnificent as the inlet we found ourselves in the next day. It was illuminated turquoise or perhaps teal as light bounced off from the crystals embedded in the walls, urging my eyes toward the cataract in the near distance. Hundreds of trees surrounded the entrance to the cove that led to the basin and the only sound that echoed inside was the rush of waves crashing against the rocks.

"Tell me something, Higuchi," Kamihara-sensei said, stopping a few feet short of the cascading waterfall. "Why do you want to become a Hero?"

His words shot out like a bullet despite the deafening roar of the rapids behind him. I felt eyes on me and knew that Bakugou drilled holes into the back of my head just as intently as when he had asked the same question two days earlier, but the lackluster response I had given him then still applied at the moment.

"I want to do some good."

Kamihara-sensei stared at me for a second longer, but it felt like ages before he finally turned away. I didn't miss the vague disappointment reflected in his eyes. It took all that I had to force down the guilt burning in my lungs, swallowing until it landed in the deepest pits of my stomach.

"If you're not going to be honest," Kamihara-sensei said, holding his gaze steady. "Your training ends today."

My breath stuttered.

"What?"

"There's no honor in becoming a Hero if your passion lies elsewhere," Kamihara-sensei said, dark eyes cutting through my crimson irises. "I have nothing left to teach you if that is the case."

All I could do was blankly stare back at him. "Why do you keep saying 'if'?"

"You still have a choice," Kamihara-sensei said, perhaps a little too easily for my liking. "No one is forcing you to be here, but I'm not going to make you leave either."

The bubbling guilt steeped into something more akin to frustration. I made a point to ask myself how ill feelings started brewing out of nowhere and didn't mind admitting that maybe they were there long before I knew what these emotions meant. Not anymore. I would've never thought to confess such an ugly truth three months ago, but to be honest, I probably wouldn't have thought it to be true at all.

"I want to be here," I said, flinching at how automatic it sounded even to my ears. "I chose to be here because I want to be here."

Kamihara-sensei gestured to the falls.

"Prove it."

My first memory of Heroes dated to when I was about two and a half. I didn't think it was important at the time or anytime after that until it suddenly came to mind right now. People cooed over me, spouting shallow compliments about how I would do good like my parents one day, how I would be so loved.

That memory was held in reserve somewhere in the back of my mind, as did most of my memories from an era I tended to classify as my _pre-Yūei_ days, and bit by bit I found myself analyzing and applying meanings to the empty promises I had grown accustomed to accepting as such truths. Heroics in my life always translated to an obligation to others in exchange for a false sense of fulfillment. In that sense, Kamihara-sensei was gravely mistaken. I was never given a choice.

 _Hero._

 _Hero._

 _Hero._

 _I want to be more than a name._

Born to extraordinary parents in an extraordinary town, I strived to be as remarkable as them because for the longest time that was all I knew, but the truth was that I didn't want to be that kind of Hero. I didn't want to _do_ good. Though having people acknowledge my existence was a wonderful thing, I was selfish for a different kind of attention, the kind that allowed me to make mistakes and burden those around me without the guilt of feeling like a failure set upon my shoulders.

It was selfish and self-indulgent and perhaps childlike at best, but I was curious by nature, and I had reached a point where I didn't need answers so much as I wanted the liberty to ask as many questions as I liked. I wanted to learn how to make human connections, something more genuine than numbers in the form of a ranking system and bodies saved.

And therein lies my answer.

The reason I wanted to become a Hero was not because I wanted to be the proper definition of a Hero at all. I wanted to become a Hero because more than anything I wanted to be one of the millions of lights that turned our planet into a star of its own and feel like that was enough. Looking back at my match with Deku, I couldn't help but wonder if perhaps I had known all along that my purpose in this world was not to save it, but to be a part of it.

I lost count of how many hours I sat still under that waterfall. Had it not been for the extra robe Kamihara-sensei gave me before I stepped foot into the plunge pool, I might've passed out from the cold. Every inch of me felt numb, but for the first time, it was a physical sensation that only seemed to make my mind sharper, clearer. It was in moments like these did I realize that despite the multitude of liquids I was able to control with my Quirk, this was truly my element.

 _You want me to prove it._

My thoughts turned shiftless like a silent spring, and then the waves washed over me entirely. As slivers of sunlight sifted through the trees, I wondered if there was a place in this world where it felt warmer on the surface of my skin, and thinking about that warmth turned my shivers into nerves of steel, or perhaps a form of liquid courage I didn't need to consume because it was inherently a part of me. I was as much a lake as I was a storm, but I remained unwavering regardless.

 _I will._

* * *

Mikoto spent years devoting herself to the conviction that words were not good enough. Actions spoke louder, after all, and for Pro Heroes, there was no time for pleasantries that challenged such idealism. People tended to be rather corrosive when left unsupervised, and even on off days someone was in need of saving.

 _Thank you_ was a common phrase she heard often from those able to muster the courage to talk to her, but the smile she would give them in return felt just as empty as the words themselves, which turned into a paradox that perhaps left her more bitter than she would've liked.

The difference between unconditional love and the love she received from the general public was that the latter needed a reason to flourish. _Thank you for washing the dishes_ didn't hold the same weight as _thank you for saving my life_ , but perhaps it should've. Was it worth saving the lives of strangers if she was forced to give up her own?

Yes, of course.

To hear expressions of gratitude every second of everyday for doing something that she felt was her duty made her out to be a fraud. Heroes had obligations, as did a wife and mother. Leaving the dishes for her daughter to wash in a vacant home didn't feel as heavy on her shoulders as did leaving an innocent person in imminent danger. It felt much, much heavier.

Heroism was not for the selfless.

A certain level of selfishness was required to lead a life in which the only conversations one had largely consisted of words of praise and compliments, yet asking for genuity was selfish in itself. It was a flawed system reminiscent of a double-edged sword, but it was a job she had to carry if she wanted her child to grow up in a safer world. That was the choice she made, and over time, it became impossible to tell the difference between which parts were real and which parts had been tainted by rose colored ink.

"There's no telling how many people will be involved in such an orchestrated attack," Tsukauchi said, his expression grim. "At least sixty Villains were arrested for their participation in the USJ incident, and that was one building in all of Japan with only one specific target."

"As Mikoto said, Shigaraki seeks attention," Sekijirō said, leaning back against his chair in thought. "If the League of Villains indeed has an army prepared, they're going to want to hit largely populated areas."

"He's a child," Mikoto said, sliding her phone across the table where it projected a map of the country for them to observe. A yellow dot started blinking to mark their current location. "Having the Hero Killer dominate the media in spite of their stunt at USJ likely irked him enough to take action sooner than they were planning."

"Nōmu must be one of many," All Might said, bringing his hand to his chin. "But if our theory about that man is correct, then it's safe to assume they'll be short in supply due to the time and precision required to create such creatures."

"Tokyo will definitely be a target," Tsunagu said, studying the streets with calculating eyes. At his comment, a red dot appeared to mark the city. "I doubt they're ready to take on All Might again, but it's still a major metropolis, and Yūei will be defenseless since a number of the faculty will be away helping students with their internships."

"Hosu is another target," Mikoto added, staring at the second red dot blinking a few centimeters away from the first. "The Hero Killer has unfinished business there and I'm certain Shigaraki won't pass up the chance to strip him of the spotlight in the city where it all began."

"If the brat insists on throwing a tantrum, he'll stick to places that hold some kind of sentimental value to him," Enji pointed out, regarding the two cities on the map with a frown. "I don't think anywhere else is of any particular significance."

"No," Sekijirō said suddenly, leaning forward to tap on a city already emphasized on the map. "He wants to put on a show, and that means striking somewhere that will indubitably shake the nation."

A third dot appeared.

"Yokohama?" Tsunagu voiced in confusion.

"Children's Day," Tsukauchi breathed out, shaking his head in exasperation. "Cosmo World is hosting kids from all over the country to celebrate. We'll need to issue thousands of evacuations—"

"We can't inform the public," Mikoto said. "Doing so will only result in a nationwide panic and tip off the League of Villains on top of that."

"We can't just let them hurt innocent people—"

"No, we can't," she interrupted. "That's why we need to line the streets and strike back as quickly and as close to no casualties as possible."

"You know what that sounds like, don't you?" Sekijirō asked, his voice laced with worry that she knew was meant less for her than it was for the civilians caught in the crossfire.

Mikoto felt the rose colored glasses slipping off her face like a tear or a mask like the one she had spent so long maintaining. Crimson eyes that had seen far too much blazed with a fire, foreshadowing red—blood and the city in flames. This was reality, and the reality was that there was no chance words could save them now.

"We're going to war."

* * *

It was a miracle I didn't wake up the next morning with incurable pneumonia after sitting in an ice bath for over ten hours. According to Kamihara-sensei, the point was to numb my physical self to the rest of the world and tune in with my thoughts and feelings, as well as test my resolve—a resolve that had never been particularly relevant until recent months, and truthfully never solidified until I decided to take matters into my own hands.

Kamihara-sensei looked far too smug about it when he came to help me get back to the inn, which said a lot considering I could only see half of his face. He started teaching Bakugou the basics of taijutsu while I was in the cavern, and then did the same with me after we dropped off the blond at Hakone springs later in the day.

Like I had anticipated back at the train station, Bakugou practiced creating bigger blasts using the heat from the surrounding area to expand his pores and increase the size of his explosions, which trained his body get used to the kickback. It also prepared him for the extensive hand-to-hand exercises Kamihara-sensei said we'd be attempting today, but to be honest, I wasn't sure anything could've softened that blow.

"I can't believe we just ran ten miles with an extra sixty-four pounds on our bodies," I huffed, unabashedly sprawled across the grass in the small yard behind the inn.

"'soon as we get out of this shithole, I'm blowin' these things up," Bakugou muttered, his chest heaving with every word as he collapsed on the ground beside me. "What's taking the old man so long?"

"I'm thirty-one, actually."

Kamihara-sensei appeared out of nowhere, a box of pizza in one hand and a pair of tonfas in the other. He raised a brow at our current disposition, but merely shrugged and set the food down in front of us.

"Are we allowed to eat that?" I asked, fixing my gaze on the box.

"After the spar," Kamihara-sensei said, handing each of us a tonfa. "Don't worry, we'll keep it simple: talk shit, get hit."

We stared at him.

"Did he just—"

"He did."

"Fucking weird."

I sat up and observed the melee weapon in my hands. I wasn't as familiar with it as I would've been with a knife or sword, but I knew it was typically used with one in each hand.

"We're going to test your coordination," Kamihara-sensei said, fingers clasped behind his back. "You can use your Quirks to help you, but the only hits that will count are the ones you land with the tonfa. Each one will earn you a pizza slice."

Bakugou and I gave each other relatively sportive expressions that more or less said _I'm going to win_. The tonfas were surprisingly light, but I had to be extra wary of Bakugou's Quirk now that he had a significantly wider range of attack.

"On the count of three," Kamihara-sensei said. "Three."

I didn't have time to blink with how quickly Bakugou lunged at me, his free hand emitting a blast behind him and the other gripping the tonfa pointed directly at my head. It took little effort to create a series of thin ice walls to slow him down since Kanagawa was so humid this time of year, but he shifted his hands to point toward the ground, decidedly flying over the partition instead of smashing straight through.

My hand swiped left and turned the frost into water whips that tried to wrap around his wrist. Bakugou had only gotten faster in the past few days and evaded each attempt with ease, but I narrowed my eyes and focused on halting his blood in mid-air. He stumbled and started falling, allowing a stray whip to constrict him entirely, and with a tug I brought him hurtling in my direction.

"Gotcha."

The resounding _smack_ that echoed felt distinctly satisfying, and I knew Bakugou wasn't going to let it slide. He winced as his fingers prodded at the area on his stomach where I had slammed the tonfa before suddenly careening towards me again. I hit the ground just in time to avoid the blow aimed at my face, but he set off another docile explosion that allowed him to swivel in place and all but jam his weapon into my side.

"There's your damn pivot," Bakugou grinned wickedly.

I rolled my eyes and sat up, ungracefully cracking a crick in my neck. "You didn't have to hit me that hard."

"Don't be such a fucking baby."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"No one gets pizza if you seriously start this now," Kamihara-sensei deadpanned.

My mouth clamped shut and I straightened in place, readying myself for the next round. As I watched Bakugou launch into the air again, I couldn't help but think that despite the shackles on my wrist and ankles weighing me down, I felt lighter than I had been in a while.

* * *

"Your phone is ringing."

Bakugou let out an incoherent mumble from where he spread himself out on the couch, but didn't give any further reaction. The two of us finished training a couple of hours ago and he had been asleep ever since, more so as a result of all the pizza he ate than actual exhaustion. Thanks to Kamihara-sensei, our stamina had improved significantly, and sparring for half the day didn't leave us nearly as winded as it did when we first started.

I sat on a stool by the kitchen idly flipping through a magazine when the sound of a generic ringtone cut through the silence in the room once again. Frowning, I made my way to the gadget haphazardly tossed onto the coffee table, but the name flashing on the screen instantly brought a small smile to my face.

"It's Kirishima," I said, grabbing the nearest pillow and plowing him on the head with it. "You should answer it."

"Shut up," Bakugou grumbled.

I rolled my eyes and grabbed the phone myself, hitting _answer_ before bringing it up to my ear. "Hi, Kirishima."

" _Rei?"_

"Bakugou can't come to the phone right now. I kicked his ass so hard that Kamihara-sensei put him on bed rest—"

"Give me the fucking phone," Bakugou seethed, abruptly snatching it out of my hands. "What do you want, Shitty Hair?"

" _I had some free time so I thought I'd see what's been going on with you guys, but if you're hurt that bad—"_

"Don't believe that damn liar—"

" _Listen man, I can call back another time! You seriously don't have to be embarrassed, you know, Rei is a great—"_

"I'm hanging up," Bakugou snapped, chucking his phone in a random direction across the room before plopping his head back down on the sofa cushion.

"That's rude," I said, languidly picking up the device from the floor to find that the call was still on the line. "Hi, I should probably mention I was just kidding."

A breezy laugh sounded from the other end. " _I know."_

"Look at you," I mused, lips curling into another smile. "How've you been, Kirishima?"

" _Pretty good! Fourth Kind is kind of rough around the edges, but not any more than me, I guess,"_ I stifled a chuckle. " _That kid from 1-B is here, too, can you believe it?"_

"Which kid?"

" _The dude with the metal Quirk."_

"Your twin separated at birth?" I asked, taking a peek over my shoulder to see if Bakugou had moved at all. He hadn't. "Must be interesting sharing your internship with another student."

" _You would know, right?"_ Kirishima teased, and I could practically hear his grin. " _I bet it's been loads of fun, though,"_ he paused. _"Oh, hey, Kaminari is calling."_

"No worries, I can hang up."

" _Do you want to do a group call?"_

"It's fine," I said, shaking my head though he couldn't see it. "This is Bakugou's phone, anyway. I'm sure the only reason he let me use it this long is because he went back to sleep."

" _That's probably true,"_ Kirishima laughed again. " _It was good to hear from you, Rei. I'll seriously call back later if you guys are still free!"_

"Sounds good," I said, spinning around back towards the living room. "Bye, Kirishima."

" _Later!"_

I ended the call and set Bakugou's phone on the coffee table where I found it. As much as I had grown to appreciate his company, talking to Kirishima felt a bit like a breath of fresh air. I'd been texting Ochako a few times throughout the week, but the difference in our schedules made her replies come in sporadic bursts, and Yaoyorzu almost never responded. After catching her on one of Uwabami's many interviews the other day, I couldn't blame her.

Iida came to mind and I wondered if he was okay, or as okay as he could've been under the circumstances. I wasn't so naive to believe that he picked a sponsor based in the same city where his brother was attacked out of pure coincidence, but I figured the adults involved had long since caught on to his recent behavior. Despite having a newfound responsibility to train Shinsō, I knew Aizawa-sensei had ways of keeping eyes on all of his students, and that lifted a small weight off my shoulders.

My own phone suddenly felt heavier in my pocket as I thought of initiating conversations with the other two people whose numbers I'd recently gotten. I knew both of them had a lot they wanted to work on over the course of their internships and didn't want to intrude should either be in the middle of something, but it was well past dinner and still a little too early to sleep, which made this a good a time as any to try.

Mustering the nerve I didn't think I needed, I messaged Deku first. He was more likely to reply first or even reply at all, but I also knew he would've been just as anxious as I was to text back, so I didn't bother holding my breath waiting for a response. My fingers stilled instead, hovering over the contact sandwiched between _Uraraka Ochako_ and _Yaoyorozu Momo_.

As hit send on a casual _hi_ , my last words to him suddenly came to mind. The embarrassment I felt at the time didn't feel quite as prevalent now. It had become glaringly obvious in the past handful of days that I was growing more and more fond of the boy with beautiful eyes, and though I wasn't entirely sure what to do with this bit of information, I didn't feel the need to worry about it just yet.

Or so I thought.

My phone buzzed a couple of seconds later, and I might have noticed the stutter in my chest if I wasn't busy grinning at the screen.

* * *

 **[8:27 PM] Todoroki Shouto**

 _Hello._

* * *

His eyes swept the city below him.

Through a small window between his too long fringe, he came to the conclusion that it looked like a single creature, gargantuan in size and frightful in appearance. The streets all aligned and tangled together were reminiscent of arteries connecting and circulating in a continuous loop, supplying the body with fresh blood cells, pulsing and squirming like snakes or worms or nails scratching at an incessant itch.

It was around four in the morning now, and though the peak of activity had long since passed, the perdurable metabolism of the city remained untouched. He lifted a finger, spindly and spare much like the rest of him, and traced the lines stretching from one end of the skeleton to the other, a sense of self-satisfaction seeping into his seams as he noted with glee that the once undiminished soul case was now malleable beneath his bony hands.

Neon signs, traffic lights, turn signals, and the scattered glow of lurid cell screens lit up the town as if the world was the moon itself. As his stomach rumbled, he decided he was hungry and swore he'd devour the light.

But he would wait until the sun rose.

The city was far too beautiful at night. Pitch black shadows eclipsed its insecurities and bedimmed the blemishes that blistered through the boroughs like a rampant sort of fixation fueled by the faux and the pas. He could find no wrongs in the darkness that swindled and surrounded him, beckoning him to join the facade, but the ugliness would be revealed once the star surfaced, while the snarl of the creature fell on deaf ears.

Shigaraki Tomura smiled.

"Tonight is going to be different," he said, nails clawing at his neck as a beam of orange cut through the horizon. "Let's make them rot."

* * *

 **[8:27 PM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _I've eaten more pizza this week than I have in my entire life._

 **[8:27 PM] Todoroki Shouto**

 _Should I be concerned?_

 **[8:27 PM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _No, I like pizza._

 **[8:27 PM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _Kamihara-sensei is training us hard enough to burn it all off._

 **Higuchi Reiko is typing…**

 **[8:27 PM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _How about you?_

 **[8:28 PM] Todoroki Shouto**

 _I'm not particularly fond of it._

 **[8:28 PM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _I was talking about your internship._

 **[8:29 PM] Todoroki Shouto**

 _Oh…_

 _ **Todoroki Shouto is typing…**_

 **[8:29 PM] Todoroki Shouto**

 _I guess working with my old man isn't as bad as I thought it would be._

 **[8:29 PM] Todoroki Shouto**

 _Not much has happened, though._

 **[8:29 PM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _If it's any consolation, I sat under a waterfall for half a day._

 **[8:29 PM] Todoroki Shouto**

 _Did you get sick?_

 **[8:29 PM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _I'm fine._

 **[8:30 PM] Todoroki Shouto**

 _That's good._

 **[8:30 PM] Todoroki Shouto**

 _I've been trying to get used to my flames, but most of our time has been spent on patrol._

 **[8:30 PM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _Hosu, right? The Hero Killer was last seen there._

 **[8:31 PM] Todoroki Shouto**

 _I know._

 _ **Todoroki Shouto is typing…**_

 **[8:32 PM] Todoroki Shouto**

 _It seems my father has been on edge about something lately._

 **[8:32 PM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _Do you think it has to do with the Hero Killer?_

 **[8:33 PM] Todoroki Shouto**

 _I'm not sure._

 **[8:33 PM] Todoroki Shouto**

 _He suggested today that I stay behind while he makes his rounds tomorrow._

 **[8:33 PM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _Whatever it is sounds important._

 _ **Higuchi Reiko is typing…**_

 **[8:33 PM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _Stay safe._

 **[8:34 PM] Todoroki Shouto**

 _I'll do my best._

 **[8:34 PM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _Did anything else happen?_

 _ **Todoroki Shouto is typing…**_

 **[8:35 PM] Todoroki Shouto**

 _I saw a cat today._

 **[8:35 PM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _A cat?_

 **[8:35 PM] Todoroki Shouto**

 _Yes._

 **[8:36 PM] Todoroki Shouto**

 _It fell into a puddle._

 **[8:36 PM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _Oh._

 **[8:37 PM] Todoroki Shouto**

 _I was going to help it, but it didn't look like it needed any saving._

 **[8:37 PM] Todoroki Shouto**

 _I think it enjoyed the water quite a bit._

 **[8:37 PM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _Sounds cute._

 **[8:37 PM] Todoroki Shouto**

 _I thought I'd mention it._

 **[8:37 PM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _Thanks for telling me._

 _ **Higuchi Reiko is typing…**_

 **[8:38 PM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _There's a lot I wish you could see here, too._

 **[8:38 PM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _I don't think I ever told you, but Kanagawa is my hometown._

 **[8:38 PM] Todoroki Shouto**

 _A coastal town?_

 **[8:38 PM] Todoroki Shouto**

 _Seems fitting._

 **[8:38 PM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _Yeah. I missed the ocean._

 **[8:39 PM] Todoroki Shouto**

 _I've never seen it._

 **[8:40 PM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _Really?_

 **[8:40 PM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _You've never gone to the beach with your family or anything?_

 **[8:40 PM] Todoroki Shouto**

 _If we have, I don't remember._

 **[8:40 PM] Me**

 _That sucks._

 **[8:41 PM] Todoroki Shouto**

 _I didn't think I was missing out on much, but…_

 **[8:41 PM] Todoroki Shouto**

 _Seeing you talk about it like this make me wonder if I was mistaken._

 **[8:41 PM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _Definitely mistaken._

 _ **Higuchi Reiko is typing…**_

…

 **[8:42 PM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _Maybe I can take you to see it someday._

 _ **Todoroki Shouto is typing…**_

…

…

 **[8:43 PM] Todoroki Shouto**

 _Okay._

* * *

Today was day five of our internship.

Kamihara-sensei allowed us to remove the weights in case of an emergency on the job, but it had taken some time to get used to after days of literally getting attached. He rewarded for playing nice and inhaling six boxes of pizza over the course of the week by taking us on patrol for the first time since we arrived.

As a tourist destination, Kanagawa was subject to a few petty crimes, which led us to apprehending a handful of thugs in the three hours we kept watch. Something about performing semi-official Hero duties in my hometown felt kind of surreal, but I suppose the fact that I was especially familiar with these streets kept me grounded.

"This is boring," Bakugou grumbled.

I shrugged, albeit feeling a bit lethargic as well. "Boring means no one is hurt or dying."

"Boring is fucking tedious."

"Look at you using big words."

"My written exam scores are higher than yours, dipshit."

"Really?" Kamihara-sensei asked, raising a bemused brow.

"I'm not particularly fond of studying," I mumbled, rolling my eyes as I kicked a stray pebble on the sidewalk. "Not like it matters since we're tied for the exact same—"

I stopped mid-sentence and halted in my tracks, whirling around in an attempt to locate something that I knew wasn't there. The sense of foreboding I felt two or three months ago spread throughout my body, crawling up and down my skin and twisting my insides until I fell to my knees.

"Shit," Bakugou said, diving to steady me before my head could hit the cement. "Don't tell me this is—"

Kamihara-sensei knelt in front of us in an instant, his eyes sharp with concern and unbridled caution. "Are you alright?"

I had no time to breath, much less talk, but I didn't need to explain. A crack appeared in the midst of the azure skies and abruptly split open to reveal a gaping black hole. Bakugou let out a growl and I gasped in horror at the sight, gripping his shoulder even tighter just to keep my knees from sweeping out from under me again.

"No," Kamihara-sensei said, promptly standing to his full height. "This wasn't supposed to happen now."

"You know what's going on?" Bakugou asked, pinning his eyes on our mentor.

"I'll explain later," Kamihara-sensei said, beckoning us to our feet. "We need to get all of these people to safety first."

I swayed and stumbled a few spaces, but fortunately, the blond didn't waver nor complain when I leaned against his side for support. Tourists and locals alike paused their routine to stare at the anomaly, and in a matter of minutes, scattered bodies had turned into massive crowds. It occurred to me then why there were so many people around in the first place.

Today also marked Children's Day, and Cosmo World held an annual celebration that hosted thousands of kids from all over Japan. If the same thing that happened at USJ was about to happen again, then we had no way of completely predicting or preventing the amount of collateral damage as a result.

 _Kids._

 _They're just kids._

"Here," Kamihara-sensei said, taking out a number of flares from his pockets. "Kanagawa implemented an evacuation protocol that residents will be able to recognize. The flares give them the signal to hide without notifying the enemy."

"Cosmo World," I uttered urgently, shaking my head in rising panic. "It's filled to maximum capacity with children right now—"

"Go."

"What?"

"Take Bakugou with you," Kamihara-sensei added, turning to the blond. "Get those families out of there while I take care of things here. Meet back at the inn as soon as the park is clear and make sure to watch each other's back."

Kamihara-sensei promptly transformed into an imperceptible needle that streaked throughout the city, spreading the strips of harmless red powder that instantly colored the streets. I didn't have time to argue, not that I would have even given the chance. The blond tugged on my wrist and spun me around to face him, his hands planted firmly onto my shoulders as crimson met crimson.

"This is your hometown," Bakugou said. "I get it, okay, but I can't babysit you and help these people at the same time. Are you good?"

We both knew the stakes were higher now in comparison to the last time something like this happened. He and I and all of our classmates were still kids ourselves, far too young to be thrust into the real world of Heroes and Villains, but that didn't matter—if we weren't going to help, then who was? This was an entire city, and like Bakugou said, this city was my hometown. Kamihara-sensei couldn't protect them on his own.

"I'm good," I said, nodding resolutely.

Bakugou returned the gesture. "Then let's light these bastards up."

* * *

 **postscript**

brb finals


	16. Flickered Beats

No copyright infringement intended.

* * *

—

 **XVI. Flickered Beats**

—

* * *

I wish I could've done something, maybe say a few words of affirmation or perhaps even take a short breath to reassure myself that things will turn out alright, but I had no time to do much of anything at all. As soon as Bakugou's hands fell from my shoulders, a piercing shriek cut through the tension and shot straight through my core, twisting my insides and pulling until I was left with a seemingly permanent grimace on my face.

It disappeared in the wind, and for a moment, I wondered if it had been a mere figment of my imagination, something I conjured up in my head as a result of my nerves, but it was back within seconds and louder than before. Magnified by hundreds, the screech bulldozed through the city, reverberating through the buildings. From the way Bakugou tensed, I knew he heard it, too, as did the rest of the civilians flocking together like frightened birds.

And then I saw them.

Much like it had done at USJ, the black hole produced Villains by the minute, but something about them didn't feel entirely right this time. Even at this distance, I could see the empty eyes and blackened tongues that slipped past their lips after catching sight of a civilian as if ready to devour a full course meal. It was as alarming as it was terrifying because in addition to hearing it and seeing it, I felt it: humanity, or the lack-thereof.

The first of the Villains to hit the ground was a burly man with sandy scutes scaling his body. He stood still for a few beats of silence, swaying on the spot and then straightening with a strange sharpness to kick at the dirt twice and thrice again. Nothing happened, and in a bout of frustration, his heel stomped down even harder not unlike a toddler throwing a temper tantrum. A colossus crack cut the cement cleanly in half.

"What the fuck is this Quirk?" Bakugou hissed.

He struggled to stay upright as the earth rumbled beneath us. I heard more screams, this time from the citizens scrambling to get out of the way, but a blur shot out from the corner of my eye and I knew it was Kamihara-sensei when the Villain collapsed in an unconscious heap.

"There's something off about him," I said, uncapping the flask at my hip. "Kamihara-sensei won't be able to handle this by himself if all of them are like that. Not without risking any major casualties."

"What about the kids?"

"We can't take them out of the park without hitting the streets."

"The streets are probably the worst place to be right now," Bakugou muttered, grenades glowing on command. "We just have to make sure these bastards don't get too close."

I nodded grimly, looking at the disarray surrounding us. Enemies dropped like flies thanks to our mentor, but with each one he took out, ten more came pouring out of the portal.

 _Ring._

 _Ring._

 _Ring._

"Your phone is ringing."

"This is not the fucking time—"

"The only two people who have your number are Kirishima and Deku," I said, diving forward to reach into his pocket myself. "I don't think it's a coincidence you're getting a call while all of this is going on."

I swiped at his screen to answer the incoming video call, and this time he didn't protest. Kirishima's face appeared in an instant, his brows creased with worry and lips pressed together in a thin line. I was more surprised than I should've been when Kaminari popped into frame beside him, eyes wide.

The two of them probably met up on their day off not knowing something like this was going to happen. It was another sad reminder that today was supposed to be just another day.

"Are you guys still in Kanagawa?" Kirishima asked.

Bakugou and I exchanged glances and simultaneously nodded.

"What the hell is going on over there?" Kaminari demanded, shaking his head. "That black hole is all over the news!"

"It looks like the League of Villains," I said, pausing when I felt my own cellular device vibrate in my pocket. The name displayed further added a sense of urgency to the situation, and with clumsy fingers, I gave Bakugou his phone and promptly set mine on speaker. "Todoroki."

 _"I overheard my father speaking to your mother this morning."_

I fought the urge to gasp at the precipitous revelation that firstly, my mother was alive and well and talking to Endeavor, of all people, and secondly, good or bad she was somehow involved.

 _"The attack in Kanagawa is suspected to be one of three once again led by the League of Villains, but the criminals they recruited this time have apparently been infected by a drug that enhances Quirks."_

"I knew a piece of shit like that couldn't have caused such a huge earthquake," Bakugou snarled, his grip on his phone taut and tightening until his knuckles dulled into a ghostly white.

"You said three," Kaminari said, leaning closer to the camera. "Where are the other two locations?"

Todoroki faltered, probably wondering who spoke, but he curtly responded, _"Tokyo and Hosu."_

"That's why your father wanted you to stay behind on patrol today," I said, eyes flitting toward Kamihara-sensei. "They're trying to keep this quiet by taking on the League by themselves."

"They?" Kirishima echoed.

Bakugou clicked his tongue. "The Top Ten, huh?"

"Top Heroes or not, they're gravely outnumbered," I said, turning to Bakugou with another resolute nod. "We have to help Kamihara-sensei or these people won't stand a chance."

"Fourth Kind can't know about this," Kirishima said, biting at his bottom lip. "But I mean, we're only a few miles away from Kanagawa—"

"We can't ask you to do that—"

"Count me in," Kaminari added, his eyes alight with an uncharacteristic display of determination. "Last I heard, Sero was somewhere near there, too. We can pick him up on the way."

"Deku is in Tokyo," Bakugou muttered, nudging my shoulder.

My quota for surprises must've been filled for the day considering I barely flinched at the implication in his words. The fact that Bakugou was willing to accept help from Deku proved the severity of the situation and I was not looking forward to things getting worse.

"Yaoyorozu and Shinsō, too," I said, fumbling to type a short text vaguely explaining the current conditions. "Kirishima, Kaminari, head straight for Cosmo World. There are hundreds of families there that need immediate protection. Bakugou and I will light the evacuation signals and clear the streets."

The two nodded in unison. "Got it."

 _"I'll take to the streets here,"_ Todoroki said.

"Todoroki," I murmured, breathing in deeply, a bit forlorn. "If you see my mother again…"

 _Tell her I'm fine._

The words never came out, but Todoroki let out a low hum of understanding, and that was enough for now.

"Get here fast, shitheads," Bakugou said, his grenades illuminating once more. "We're ripping these fuckers to shreds."

* * *

Mikoto covered her mouth with the sleeve of her cloak, eyeing the concoction presented to her with unconcealed distaste. Midnight had arrived in Hosu shortly after Sekijirō briefed her on the impending attack with batches of vials containing a liquid form of her Quirk, much more potent than its gaseous state.

It was a precautionary measure to incapacitate Villains without inflicting substantial damage on surrounding properties or people, and though helpful in the long run, Mikoto never did like the prospect of accidentally inhaling the aroma.

"I left a few hundred in Tokyo," Midnight said. "All Might and Eraserhead are out on the streets while the rest of the Yūei staff keep watch at the school. Knuckleduster and The Crawler will be patrolling a couple of the more populated areas as well."

Endeavor scoffed from across the room. "I can't believe we've stooped low enough to seek aid from Vigilantes."

"This is a code red, Endeavor," Tsukauchi said, tipping his hat forward in a rather grim gesture. The last time a code red was issued, All Might had been permanently impaired and his arch nemesis was presumed dead. "We've received the go ahead to bend the rules a bit."

Mikoto knew that better than anyone else in the room. Tsunagu and Sekijirō were already making rounds across Hosu, soon to be followed by the Number Two Hero who had been tasked to retrieve their share of the potion. The initial plan was to have them aid Edgeshot in Yokohama, but Tsukauchi managed to pull some strings and lift the _shoot on sight but wanted alive_ bounty on her head, leaving her in charge of her hometown instead.

The portal Kanagawa opened minutes earlier, and that meant she had to move quickly if they wanted to keep some element of surprise. Courtesy of Sekijirō, she was also aware that her daughter was in the city somewhere for Yūei's annual internships. Mikoto wasn't sure Reiko would be able or willing to see her in the first place, but the fact that she was there at all escalated her drive to protect her by whatever means necessary.

"I'll be off," Mikoto said.

Her fingers twirled to open a black hole of her own, about a dozen of Midnight's vials stored in her pockets. It was more than she should've been carrying on a Thursday afternoon and yet not nearly enough. According to Edgeshot, the Villains came in waves of tens or more, each one of them unmistakably enhanced with Trigger.

"I know we tried to keep this off record, but if those kids catch wind of this, they're not just going to keep their heads down," Midnight said, cerulean cutting crimson. "And from what I've seen, Reiko doesn't need you to protect her anymore."

The words punctured Mikoto like needles, stopping her in her tracks. Mikoto thought that if she hadn't been so adept at maintaining her emotions, she might've deflated like an actual balloon. No matter how much she would've preferred to deny it, there was truth to such a bold statement, but that didn't mean she wouldn't fight jag and tooth to keep her daughter out of harm.

"I've done my job," Mikoto said after a moment.

"That goes for your kid, too, Endeavor," Midnight added, directing her attention at the scowling redhead opposite them. "I don't have much right to speak on the matter since I don't have children of my own, but if it comes down to them or a civilian, try not to act too recklessly. Both are perfectly capable of taking care of themselves, and to an impressive extent at that."

"I'm leaving," Endeavor grumbled, swiping the box of elixirs saved for the team stationed at Hosu.

Tsukauchi quietly trailed after him, his holster heavy and trench coat lined with kevlar. The oath he took to protect the people of their nation was enough for him to agree with Midnight, and though he felt sympathy for the two parents in the room, he'd be the first to admit that this job wasn't for mere Heroes alone. The kids from Yūei were just kids themselves, but they carried a strength that was perhaps the key to pulling through.

As wisps of smoke swirled at their feet, all of them agreed on at least one thing. It was an objective opinion of sorts limited to those who experienced and understood such horrors firsthand: winning was a false concept. In the ongoing struggle between good and evil, there was only survival.

* * *

Shinsō knew the Hero Course had its moments, but little could've prepared him for something like this. He skidded to a halt more so out of shock than will, and though his training over the past handful of days ensured his lungs didn't burn, the sight before him certainly knocked the wind out of them. As civilians flooded the sidewalks, dashing away from the anomaly in the sky, Villains of all sizes lined the streets and claimed the city as their own.

His eyes honed in on the black haired girl standing a few feet away, hurriedly helping up an older woman who had tripped in her efforts to escape. Before he transferred into the Hero Course, Shinsō vaguely recognized her as just another student from Class 1-A, but now she was one of his classmates and coincidentally the person he had been tasked to find.

 _Look for Yaoyorozu_.

The text he received from Higuchi surprised him, though for reasons he hadn't expected—truth be told, he didn't even know where she got his number, but it was rather typical of someone like her to get involved in such a high stakes gamble. As Yaoyorozu looked up and met his gaze, he couldn't help but muse at the mess he'd perhaps inadvertently gotten himself into just by switching into their class.

"Shinsō-san," Yaoyorozu said, greeting him with a grim albeit relieved expression. "I'm glad you're alright."

"Same to you."

It looked like she expected him, which meant that Higuchi had informed her of the situation, but they both knew there was no time for small talk. Yaoyorozu didn't hesitate in brandishing her signature weapon, a bo staff that materialized on the surface of her sparkling skin.

As she pulled the metal out of her arm, she regarded him with an inquisitive stare. The only reason they hadn't already jumped into the fray was because Higuchi specifically asked them not to engage until they were together to watch each other's backs. Now that they were here, Yaoyorozu wondered if his Quirk alone, magnificent as it was, would be enough to keep him safe.

"Can you make something for me?" Shinsō asked, inwardly berating himself for the trepidation seeping into his tone.

Yaoyorozu's eyes widened in mild surprise, but she nodded. "If it's within my knowledge, then yes, of course."

"Knuckle karambits," Shinsō said, staring idly as her skin began to glimmer once again. In a matter of seconds, she held a flawlessly crafted pair in her hands. "Thanks."

"My pleasure," Yaoyorozu said, twirling her staff as she scanned the immediate area. "Kendō-san will be joining us shortly."

"The girl on my team from the Sports Festival?"

"We're at the same internship."

Shinsō nodded in understanding and slipped the steel karambits onto his knuckles. Despite learning to use them fairly recently, having Eraserhead as his mentor meant it didn't take long until they felt like second nature. Training with the Pro Hero in general exhausted him to his core, but the experience he gained as a result was probably the one thing that would keep him alive.

That said, dying might turn out to be the better option once Aizawa-sensei finds out he went against direct orders to stay put, but Shinsō could deal with that later.

"Are you ready, Shinsō-san?" Yaoyorozu asked.

Shinsō shrugged, dryly replying, "I don't have much of a choice."

Yaoyorozu smiled again, a smile significantly more genuine than the first. To be on the receiving end of such a kind gesture in the midst of such imminent danger might've startled him more than the imminent danger itself.

"You're here, aren't you?" she said.

Even if he knew how to reply to that, Shinsō had no time to retort. An uncomfortable hiss scratched at their ears, and there, just down the block, the first of the Villains made his move. Eerie yellow eyes peered at them from a distance as the lizard-like figure inched closer and closer and closer to the two it deemed an obvious threat, and then without warning, it sprang forward.

Yaoyorozu was in front of him in a flash, slamming her staff directly onto the lizard's head. It hissed louder and swung its tail from behind, black forked tongue slithering, but Shinsō snapped out of his stupor and stopped the stray limb with a perfectly aimed punch.

Right on cue, a much larger fist rammed into its scaly body, and the impact sent it careening into the nearest brick wall.

"Sorry I'm late," Kendō grinned.

A Kangaroo hybrid of sorts bounded after her with alarming speed, but Yaoyorozu was faster, pitching the metal pole in her hands at its nose. As she worked to produce another weapon, Kendō whirled around to land another solid punch, and like a domino effect or bowling ball, its unbalanced form dismantled a couple more Villains on the way down the steep street.

In the same breath, Shinsō spotted a knife hover over the strawberry blond, but he nor the girl beside him didn't have time to attack the Villain. Gritting his teeth, he barked out the name of his ex-teammate instead, and to his immense relief she perked up with an audible, "Yeah?"

"Duck!" Shinsō commanded.

Her body fell inches short of the blade touching the back of her neck, and then Shinsō ran, launching himself off the ground to aim a kick at the offending criminal. His foot connected with a bony cheek, which he pushed against to swivel mid-air and jam his boot into the Villain's abdomen.

Kendō woke from the transient possession, pickle green eyes regaining their original luster to find the purple haired boy standing in front of her. The corners of her lips curled into a minuscule grin as he turned around to offer her a hand, and she took it gratefully. She had never been a victim to his Quirk herself, but she knew how it worked and realized that he must've used it now to help, perhaps unconventionally though altruistic nonetheless.

"Three down," Kendō said.

It became quickly apparent that their sector of the city was totally absent of civilians at last. The three of them didn't have to worry about holding back in fear of hurting an innocent bystander, but that also meant they were completely on their own to deal with the few dozen or so Villains still coming in from the warp gate.

"Let's just hope the others are having an easier time than we are," Shinsō muttered.

* * *

Midoriya prided himself in knowing he wasn't a coward, but that didn't mean he was never afraid. The fact that he was slightly terrified of one of his friends at the moment, and Uraraka at that, left him a bit flustered and in genuine awe.

"Release!"

The brunette locked her fingers together, eyes all but blazing as the trio of Villains that had been floating above their heads plummeted twenty feet to the ground. He cringed at the cracks on the cement where they landed while Todoroki stood beside him, equally bewildered at the sight of the three grown men stacked together in an inert pile.

"That's how it's done," Uraraka grinned.

Two more Villains crept up behind her, each flaunting some kind of sharp object in either hand. Todoroki frowned and languidly shifted his foot, producing pillars of ice that sent both of them flying a few yards back.

From their left approached a man with muddy blue eyes that looked less like water and more like an indigo reminiscent of Mineta's dark purple spheres, but before he could even show off his Quirk, Midoriya activated Full Cowl and shot forward at breakneck speeds, throwing a punch that sent his opponent hurtling even further.

Midoriya learned more about himself in these five days than he had in his months at Yūei, and there was no better way to put that to the test than to save a city full of innocent people. It still felt a bit odd to use his Quirk without fear of the repercussions that left him immobile all those times in the past. Not bad, per se, but somehow exhilarating, and the power that quite literally flowed through his veins inspired him to work even harder.

"Thanks, Deku-kun, Todoroki-kun!" Uraraka said.

Another Villain tried to sneak up on her, but she swirled around and poked him squarely in the chest. He let out a grunt, limbs flailing as his body started levitating only to drop once more at her subsequent command. As he fell unconscious upon hitting the ground, an ugly, black tongue peeked out of his mouth.

"Oh, yuck!"

"Probably a side effect of the drug," Todoroki said, brows furrowed. "These Villains are stronger than the ones from USJ, but it's nothing the Pros can't handle on their own. My father must've been concerned about something else."

Midoriya pondered his words, lips curving into an uneasy frown. Rei sent her distress message after he and Gran Torino left the city for some countryside training, which, at the time, put him closer to Hosu than Tokyo. Todoroki and Uraraka met up with him seconds before the black hole opened in the heart of the town, and the three of them spent all of their time since busily fighting the Villains coming out of it.

Like Todoroki said, their opponents seemed like much more capable adversaries than the thugs their class encountered at USJ, but that alone didn't warrant the participation of a few high school kids. All Might, despite his deteriorating form, should have been more than enough to subdue them.

"They're saving the best for last," Midoriya deduced, his fringe barely concealing the ridges on his forehead. "These Villains must be pawns meant to keep the Pros occupied until they can unleash something like another Nōmu."

"With All Might in Tokyo, my father is likely the only person capable of taking it down," Todoroki admitted.

Uraraka huffed, shoulders slumping in tune with her sigh. "Not if he exhausts himself with all of these hoodlums first."

"We need to find a way to close the portal," Midoriya said, keeping Full Cowl at a sturdy eight percent. "It won't matter how many of them we defeat if they just keep coming."

"If it's the Mist from before, he'll just close it and open another one elsewhere in the city," Todoroki pointed out.

"I have an idea," Uraraka said, glancing at an abandoned garbage disposal truck parked down the street. "Um, say, Deku-kun, Todoroki-kun," the two boys turned to her. "Do either of you know how to drive?"

* * *

Of the two dozen or so criminals Bakugou gleefully beat to a pulp, about a third of them put up an actual fight. The rest of them were more or less low level thugs reveling in the effects of the enhancement drug. It was highly plausible that in addition to varying symptoms, the majority simply didn't know how to control their newly amplified Quirks, but I had no way of telling which category each Villain fell into until they attacked.

The man standing a few spaces away from the Cosmo World entrance appeared far too conscious of his surroundings to be considered the latter. He had spikes protruding along his body and shark teeth that glinted dangerously upon catching sight of us, beady eyes gleaming with sadistic excitement. I knew then that despite being aware of the situation, he, like all the others, was far from having a proper state of mind.

"Be careful with this one," I muttered to the blond, liquid collecting at the palms of my hands. "I've got a bad feeling about him."

A sharp spike abruptly shot out in our direction, forcing us to split up. Bakugou lunged, slipping in and out of the forest of thorns that blocked his path. His hand pitched forward to ignite an eruption, but the smoke cleared to reveal that the man had covered himself with the metal-like pikes at the last second, leaving him completely undeterred.

"Shit," Bakugou cursed.

He ducked just in time to dodge another nail aimed at his head. I stopped the next one with a water whip and used my free hand to push myself out of the way from a third. A fist decorated with three razor-edged blades at the knuckles suddenly stopped inches from my face, but I swiftly put up a shield and trapped his claws in the ice.

Just as he was about to try the same move with his other hand, Bakugou dropped in from above us, setting off a close range explosion whilst shoving me away from the blast. The man shook himself off and stalked toward the seething blond, but before he could take another step, a string of familiar tape wrapped around his figure, encasing him in a white cocoon.

The spikes tore through his bonds easily, but it gave Bakugou enough of an opening to put a safe distance between them. A stray quill streaked toward the source of the tape. I saw a flash of red, and then there was Kirishima, his arms raised and Quirk activated. Sero swaddled the man once again, and I took the chance to envelop him in a sphere of ice on top of that.

"Bakugou!"

The other boys scrambled out of the way as I created a series of pillars for the blond to hop on. Bakugou set his wrist into position, firing an explosion that would've torn straight through the asphalt had he not honed in his attack.

"How the hell did he manage to get even stronger?" Kaminari groaned from over the redhead's shoulder.

His reaction was so normal that I found it hard not to smile in spite of the situation. "It's good to see you three."

"Sorry it took us a while to get here, Rei," Kirishima said, jabbing a thumb behind him. "We had to pick this dude up along the way."

"Yo," Sero grinned, folding his arms behind his head. "You're in a bit of a pickle, eh?"

"That's an understatement," I said, eyeing the queue of motionless Villains along the street. "Thanks for the assist—"

"How cute."

My shoulders straightened at the unfamiliar voice. I looked up immediately expecting the worst, but to my surprise, a girl just a few years older than us stood alone in the midst of the bodies regarding our group with an unimpressed stare. Her hair was chopped into a bob cut and her left eye was hidden behind a long fringe, covering what looked like some sort of patch.

"You're quite spirited," she said, lips jutting into a pout. "And lucky that you are, if I do say so myself. It's an indispensable trait to have if one wishes to wield an uncommonly powerful Quirk."

"Who the fuck are you?" Bakugou sneered.

Her moue phased into a dastardly grin that sent shivers pulsing down my spine. "Has anyone told you you've got the makings of a wonderful Villain?"

"Answer his question," I said, liquid swirling around us. "Or get out of the way."

"Riddle me this, princess," she mused, arching a brow at me. "I'm the queen of a hive and you're stuck with a bunch of testosterone filled jesters," a single bee wiggled out of the patch coating her eye. "Which one of us do you think will come out of this intact?"

The nickname made me flinch and I knew it was intentional by the way her smile expanded into a cheery expression. A small part of me felt the need to throw a fit, but I smothered the itch and forced my attention on the bee hovering by her cheek. Her bangs rustled and then another came peeking through, followed by another, and another, and another.

"No offense," Kaminari whispered. "But that's kind of gross."

Sero gave him a pointed look. "She's a Villain, dude, you're allowed to be offensive."

"I assume you've heard about the drug," she said. "It's a hassle collecting test subjects, you know, and even more annoying when they're all pulverized by a handful of brats."

The girl stood in place as her bees buzzed closer in our direction. I took a step back, not so much out of fear, but in an attempt to cover the entry leading into the park. The people inside just started evacuations and still needed time to escape.

"These brats are going to kick your yappy ass," Bakugou snapped.

He took a purposeful step forward, but suddenly stopped. I figured he came to the same conclusion as I did in that moment: this girl had answers to questions we had about the attack, and since it was currently five against one, now was our chance to milk it for what it was worth.

"You're mistaken," she said, shaking her head. "I'm not here for you. I just need a few replacements. Who's more spirited than the kids of the future, after all?"

The weight of her words didn't hit me until the two or three bees multiplied by two or three hundred, but when they did, I felt my heart stutter and drop to the pit of my stomach.

It was her.

This was the person infecting criminals with the Quirk enhancing drug, and now that she was out of pawns, she intended to create more in the sickest way possible.

"The Villains are just a distraction while you spread the drug to the general public," I realized, breath catching in my throat.

"Pretty and smart," she said appraisingly, clapping her hands. "It's a shame you're a bit late. I've done what I came here to do."

I stared in horror, desperately willing this to be some kind of nightmare. I could handle nightmares, did it all the time, but there was no escaping when it came to reality. In the midst of my panic, the girl pulled out a smoke bomb from her pocket and flashed us another sordid smile, using her free hand to twiddle her fingers in a jovial wave.

"See you around!"

Bakugou pounced, but the bomb detonated, and then she was gone. All I could think about was _how could we let this happen_ and then I shook my head furiously, several times, until I had some semblance of a clear mind. If she left, then that meant she didn't have to be physically present to administer the drug.

The hive of bees ignoring us entirely to enter the park must've been the ones injecting people with the substance. Harder than required, I stomped my foot, and the liquid surrounding us sprouted into a massive wall of ice that managed to take out a number of bees and forced those remaining to scatter.

"We have to keep the evacuations going," I said, turning to the boys. "Bakugou, Kirishima, stick to the ground and help these people to safety. I don't want any of us within range of getting stung, and it's best if we keep any damage to a bare minimum."

Kirishima nodded and Bakugou clicked his tongue, but otherwise didn't argue. He grabbed the redhead by the arm and threw him at the barrier, allowing him to scale it with sharpened fists before launching over it himself and taking the liberty of blowing up another couple of hundred bees in the process.

"Take these," I told Sero, fishing in my pockets for the last handful of flares Kamihara-sensei gave us. "Light them somewhere high enough for everyone in the city to see. We don't know how many of those things are out there."

"Gotcha," he said, tucking the beacons into his costume and swinging over the frozen partition with a string of tape.

"What about me?" Kaminari asked, looking at me expectantly.

" _We_ ," I emphasized, looking up at the black hole still very much visible in the sky. "Are going to shut that thing down once and for all."

* * *

"I told you to stay off the streets."

Shinsō maintained his gaze on the man in front of him, his insides gurgling with guilt for only a moment. It was replaced with a steely sort of stubbornness that kept him from dissolving on the spot.

Yaoyorozu was just as tense beside him, but she held her ground the same way, chin pulled in and eyes pointed straight ahead. A few feet away, Kan Sekijirō had a similar conversation with Kendō, who shared their steadfast disposition.

"Sorry," Shinsō said.

The three of them had run into their teachers on their way to the next section of the city after leaving a handful of Villains disabled. Eraserhead and the Blood King didn't look all too surprised to see them, but the disappointment was clear and cutting.

It didn't deter the teens in the slightest. Apologizing for going against the orders given to them was easy enough, but they couldn't bring themselves to apologize for their reasons to do so in the first place.

"We'll talk later," Aizawa-sensei sighed, folding his arms sternly across his chest. "This is classified information that I am only sharing because keeping it from you will put us in even more danger than we're already in."

He said the words with purpose, and though Shinsō managed to keep a straight face, Yaoyorozu had the decency to wince.

 _You reap what you sow._

"As you might've guessed, the League of Villains are suspected to be orchestrating these attacks. That means there's a possibility they'll have a creature known as the Nōmu at their disposal."

"Like the one from USJ," Yaoyorozu murmured.

Her fists inconspicuously curling at her sides. Shinsō himself had never seen said creature firsthand, but he saw the news, heard the stories, and judging by his classmate's reaction, all of them were true. Nōmu was not to be messed with.

"If they use it as a last resort, stay on the streets," Aizawa-sensei said, his usually passive eyes hard and harsh. "Keep protecting the people, but do not engage with the creature under any circumstance. The Pros will isolate it and focus on containment."

"Got it," the two said in unison.

"Feel free to relay that to your friends," Aizawa-sensei added, rolling his eyes when they exchanged discernible looks. "You didn't think we'd actually let you run off to die early, right?"

"You expected us to fight?" Yaoyorozu gasped.

Shinsō looked at him, equally curious, but he understood once his mentor caught his gaze.

"You're my students," Aizawa-sensei said, lips curving into a ghost of a smirk. "If I wasn't so annoyed at the fact that you chose to ignore me, I might even be a little proud that you did."

* * *

"I can't believe we just did that!"

Todoroki set the truck on park and unbuckled his seatbelt, hopping out of the vehicle while Midoriya gaped at him with wide eyes. Uraraka couldn't help but chuckle, following after them with a skip to her step.

"We're not allowed to have licenses until we're eighteen," Midoriya continued, shaking his head in disbelief. "How did you learn how to drive?"

"I didn't," Todoroki shrugged.

" _What?_ "

"He just moved the truck down the street, Deku-kun," Uraraka mused, pointing at where they stood just minutes earlier, which couldn't have been more than a hundred feet away.

"That doesn't make it any less illegal," Midoriya said, his cheeks flushing at the realization that he was perhaps overreacting once again. "Why did you need it here, anyway, Uraraka-chan?"

The brunette grinned and pointed above them. Both boys looked up to find that they were now directly below the warp gate, and though it had since slowed down in churning out Villains, the portal was still very much active.

"Maybe we don't have to close it," she said, placing her hands on one of the bags loaded onto the garbage truck. "What if we used it instead?"

"What do you mean?" Todoroki asked, tilting his head in confusion.

"We can make some sort of bomb with your flames," Uraraka said, placing her hands on the side of the truck. "I can use my Quirk to get it in the air, and Deku-kun can send it through the other side with one of his punches."

"How do we do that?" Todoroki asked, staring at his hands. "My flames are just flames. They don't explode or anything."

"They won't have to," Uraraka said, carefully taking out a fistful of cylindrical objects from one of the bags in the disposal.

Todoroki blinked. "Fireworks?"

"I saw them getting thrown out when I was coming to meet you," Uraraka said, smiling slightly. "We can use these instead. It's not as strong as an actual bomb, but it's probably better if we don't cause too much damage, anyway."

"You're not trying to attack them," Midoriya said, his eyes lighting up in cognizance. "If we set the fireworks off on the other side of the portal, we'll be able to see the sparks and locate their base of operation."

"Bingo!" Uraraka beamed.

"That's brilliant, Uraraka-chan!" Deku praised, curly hair flailing about as he all but bounced in excitement. "I'll try to get a hold of All Might and tell him about the plan. Now they'll have a chance to stop the Nōmu before it's even released!"

Her face and chest warmed at the compliment, but she knew now wasn't the time to bask in it. Fingers twitching with a dim glow, signifying the activation of her Quirk, Uraraka watched as the sticks of dynamite floated higher and higher until they were at level with the rooftops.

"You'll have to be quick, Todoroki-kun," she said. "We have to make sure they light up after they get through the portal or they might fizzle out before we get a chance to see them."

"Can you get me up there?" Todoroki asked, wisps of red dancing at his fingertips. "I don't know much about the range of my flames yet, but I should have a better idea the closer I am."

"Sure thing," Uraraka said, placing her hands on his shoulder and watching as his feet levitated from the ground. "Go ahead, Midoriya-kun!"

Midoriya felt the rush along his veins that came with the activation of his Quirk and reared his fist, throwing a punch that sent a gale of wind tearing through the listless atmosphere. As it hurtled the pyrotechnics toward the open portal, a burst of flames shot out from Todoroki's left hand. The wires attached at the ends of the sparklers flickered once at the close proximity to the heat, but after a few seconds, they caught fire.

"Keep an eye out while you're up there, Todoroki-kun!" Midoriya shouted.

The sheer number of sticks should've made the subsequent explosions easily seen or heard had they gone off in Hosu or Tokyo, but all that followed was a painfully loud silence. As his flames surrounded him, Todoroki found that all he could think about was a pair of crimson and the promise of the ocean, and then came the sense of dread that unfurled beneath his skin.

Two hours away, Shigaraki Tomura sat at the top of a ferris wheel, staring at the sudden display of fireworks with a smile.

"Isn't it beautiful, Kurogiri?"

* * *

 **postscript**

thank you for all the well wishes on my exams! i've been so overwhelmed by the warm responses lately that it's been difficult to write coherent notes so if you have the time and would like to see what happens when my last two brain cells decide to have at it at almost five in the morning, feel free to scroll down to the end. hope you have a lovely weekend, and as always, thank you so much for reading! (๑´• .̫ •`๑)


	17. Young and Menace

No copyright infringement intended.

* * *

—

 **XVII. Young and Menace**

—

* * *

Hachisuka Kuin let the peachy piano tones sink into the fissures of her brain, and the music tittering throughout the elevator sounded more and more like a haunting whisper the longer she stayed in the box. Dark crimson trickled down her cheek like a single tear or maybe a morbid metaphor about the metabolism of her mental state, artistic in a sense that didn't make sense, which, to her, was precisely what made it so beautiful.

As evidenced by her injuries, those slimy brats probably took care of her bees in the same manner they disposed of the lowlife peasants she recruited for the attack. A bunch of kids with no prior experience aside from the Unforeseen Stupid Joke of an ambush had no reason to be so perceptive and powerful, but in the years since her time as a part time Villain seeking cover at a high school full of vacuous souls, she supposed there must have been something in the water that made them so promising.

"You're late," her boss said.

Kuin rolled her eyes and swiped a towel from the coat rack by the entrance of his office to wipe off the blood that stained her skin. The dry cloth did little to erase the shriveled streaks across her cheeks, but she couldn't be bothered to care, her fingers dancing along the back of a scruffy armchair across from his desk as she eyed the otherwise sumptuously decorated space.

"Love what you've done with the place," Kuin said, taking a seat with her legs crossed and arms folded over her chest. "I don't feel quite as depressed now that I actually have somewhere to sit."

The man ignored her and she feigned a wince, sticking out her bottom lip. He paid no mind to that either.

"You were reckless."

"I was just doing what you paid me to do," Kuin said, brushing a lock of hair away from her face. The splashes of red that colored the patch tucked beneath her fringe were now visible and vibrant. "A couple of boats should be ready at the harbor soon."

"How many have we gathered?"

"Thirteen."

"Total?"

"We'll have a wider pool of prospects after Yokohama," Kuin answered breezily. "Heroes will be teeming all over the place now that the cat's out of the bag, but I doubt it'll be a problem."

Unspoken was an ugly, transparent truth: _they_ _won't be able to save everyone._

"Keep me updated," he sighed, shuffling a few papers on his desk. "You're walking on a tightrope, Hachisuka. I'd be careful of where you land."

Knowing very well that the gesture was her cue to leave, Kuin rose to her feet. The sound of her shoes scraping against the soiled carpet as she spun on her heel bounced off the walls like an echo or prayers, perhaps, to Gods that didn't exist. That was definitely a threat if she ever heard one. As did most of his criticism, however, it rolled off her spine with another shrug and dip of her head.

"With all due respect, sir," she said, lips still curved into a pretty and petulantly petty grin. "I don't intend to get knocked down."

* * *

Kaminari spotted the fireworks before I did, and the look of astonishment on his face set fire in the pit of my stomach. I caught myself marveling at the sight for the briefest of moments, surprised and suspicious of their sudden appearance. As much as people loved setting off sparks during holiday seasons and summer nights, it made no sense for a show to start in the midst of a citywide attack.

The incessant buzzing in my pocket seemed to mock my conjectures even further. It was another call from Todoroki, urgent and borderline frantic as a medley of voices mingled all at once. Deku hurled words of explanation and apologies at an incoherent pace, while Ochako spoke over him in tones just as chaotic. Todoroki was eerily silent the entire time, and that, somehow, unnerved me the most.

"Get out of there," he said shortly, and then the line went dead.

For a second I thought he hung up, but I realized when a stray wire came swinging down from above us that a nearby power cable had been haphazardly cut down. It was followed by an explosion in the distance, and I could tell from the sound that it was one of Bakugou's blasts.

Kaminari and I exchanged bewildered looks and bolted back to the theme park without another word. I expected the worst, but the scene that welcomed us was even worse than that, and the drop in my chest told me that the girl from earlier was right.

 _We're too late._

The dozens of bodies scattered across the ground almost rivaled the number of bees swarming the area. Bakugou soared in zigzags to keep them at a distance, but he couldn't get close enough to protect the people on the ground without the risk of them getting caught in the crossfire. Not too far from us was a spot of red directing any remaining survivors to the closest exit, their path guided by bars of tape.

"Do you see that?" Kaminari asked.

"Bodies?"

 _There are so many of them._

"No," he shook his head, lifting a shaky finger to point at something over my head. "That _._ "

My eyes followed the trail and I stilled in disbelief at where it landed. From where we stood, they looked like tiny ants that didn't pose much of a threat, but the mint green and swirls of black mist were unmistakable against the vibrant colors of the ferris wheel.

 _This is why he told us to get out of here._

"There's no way we'll be able to defend ourselves and get these people to safety at the same time," I said, turning to the blond beside me. "Can you send a distress signal?"

"To who?"

"Everyone."

Kaminari nodded, switching on his earpiece with a light jolt of electricity. A throng of bees started closing in on Kirishima and Sero from one of their blind spots, but I put up a wall of ice to block them out. The two boys perked up at the intercession and spotted us, relief flooding their expressions.

"Done," Kaminari said after a moment.

I eyed him from my peripheral. "How's your wattage limit?"

"Not great," he admitted, staring at his hands. "But better than before. I can use my Quirk at maximum voltage a few times now without turning all loopy."

"That'll have to do," I said, looking up at the explosions firing off in the sky above us. "Bakugou can't keep this up much longer. Think you can take these bees out in one shot?"

"That's crazy," Kaminari protested, then paused. "Maybe," and then he shook his head furiously, several times. "I might be able to generate enough electricity, but my control still sucks. I'd hit everyone here."

"I'll create a safe zone," I assured him, stomping my foot for good measure to form another frozen barricade. "Help me get the civilians out of range first and then just focus on frying as many of those things as possible."

Kaminari didn't argue a second time and for once stayed silent as we dragged the unconscious bodies out of the open clearing. I was hyper aware of the two Villains waiting and watching at a distance, the gap separating us from them far too small for me to be comfortable. Not that it mattered. Kurogiri had the power to be anywhere and everywhere, and here was obviously no exception.

It was frightening, dare I say downright terrifying to know that they could have attacked at any moment. Bakugou, Kirishima, and I had fought against them before, but the difference between then and now was stark and sent shivers across every synapse in my body. Thirteen-sensei wasn't here to stall our escape. Aizawa-sensei wasn't here to stop close calls. All Might was never going to make it in time.

Sero didn't have an offensive Quirk, and Kirishima, despite his hardening providing a solid defense, didn't have a chance in a close range match against the mint haired man. Bakugou, Kaminari, and I had to make sure we maintain as much distance as possible,all the while preventing any casualties from occurring elsewhere. I felt myself tearing at the seams, barely holding it together, but I reminded myself that right now, I was still in one piece.

"That's all of them," Kaminari said.

He dropped the last of the civilians into the ice box I built by the entrance. I tried not to stare at the various faces ranging from men to women to children stung and stained with red welts, but I couldn't bring myself to look away. All I could do to soothe their pain was blanket the hives with a thin coat of rime, and all I could think about was that these people were fathers, brothers, sisters, mothers, _children_ —

 _This is sick._

"We need to do this fast," I muttered, swallowing the lump in my throat before it turned into bile. "I don't know how much time they'll have."

Two more factors I had to take into consideration included the speed the drug would take into effect and said effect it would have on each of the victims. The situation was bad enough as it was right now and dealing with a plethora of Quirk enhanced civilians would undoubtedly overwhelm us. Luckily, the other boys caught up with me and Kaminari once the last of the uninjured were led to safety, which gave us one less thing to worry about.

"You guys should take cover, too," Kaminari urged, looking at us over his shoulder. "This is probably going to get ugly."

Sero snorted, his trademark grin nowhere near as bright as usual. "Not uglier than your face."

"Looked in a mirror lately?" Kaminari scoffed, his lips tilted into a lackluster smirk.

Kirishima let out a breathy chuckle, eyes downcast and heavy with images I knew he would see again in his nightmares. All things considering, it alarmed me how well they seemed to deal with the tragedy at hand, but it quickly dawned on me that they didn't cope so much as they endured. Each of us knew that there would be a time to crumble, and that time isn't now. I appreciated the sentiment and mustered a small, tired smile of my own.

"Don't mess this up, pisshead," Bakugou grumbled.

Kaminari sighed, electricity coating his skin until the static enveloped his arms. "No pressure, right?"

But there was—

Pressure, that is, in the form of lightning, surging from his fingertips and cutting across the cement. It sounded like birds chirping, thousands, if not millions of them tittering in every direction, ready to take flight. I covered the rest of us with a blockade of ice, but not before we saw the current turn into a blinding light, expanding until it exploded.

"Indiscriminate discharge, one point five million volts!"

The impact resulted in all of the bees in the vicinity dropping like dead flies. Ice shattered and I leapt forward to catch Kaminari before he hit the ground, his hair wildly untamed and skin burning like he suddenly came down with a fever. Kirishima stepped up to help me steady him, the blond's arms slung securely around our necks.

"Nice job, sparky," I said, trying to cool down his temperature with a burst of cold air.

Kaminari managed a short laugh, stumbling a bit to maintain his balance. "That's way better than 'pisshead.'"

"You got a problem, _pisshead_?" Bakugou barked, flailing a fist.

"Lively as ever, I see."

 _He—_

Kaminari was the first to react, letting out a gasp that accidentally sent a jolt running up his arm. Kirishima and I flinched at the sudden shock, but the numbness that settled at the realization of who spoke took over in an instant. Bakugou remained motionless, his fists clenched at his sides, and I hoped more than anything in that moment that he wouldn't do something reckless.

"I didn't expect a bunch of kids to evacuate an entire theme park so quickly," said the mint haired man.

Kirishima frowned. "Back again?"

"You're quite the nuisance," Kurogiri said, hands folded behind his back. "But I must refute your assumption. We are not here for you."

His words sounded too familiar, but by the time I figured out the reason why they revealed themselves, a warp gate had appeared above the makeshift safe room I created. Like our first encounter with the League of Villains, everything after that happened impossibly fast.

Sero grabbed as many of the civilians as he could using his tape while Bakugou launched himself at the mist. Kurogiri disappeared just as he fired a blast and reappeared at a distance, starting the extraction process with those the former wasn't able to carry. The mint haired man took his place, fingers reaching for the distracted blond, but I threw open my spare arm and forced him aside.

"Grab those wires, Sero!" I called out, pointing to the power line that had collapsed just a few minutes earlier.

Sero tossed a long strip of tape towards the cables, and with only a split-second glance between two pairs of crimson, Bakugou and I moved at the same time.

The mint haired man slammed his hands onto the ground and the cement began to crumble instantaneously. I made a platform made of ice beneath us and held his body down until Bakugou dropped the wires at his feet.

Kaminari seemed to catch onto what we were planning and clutched the other end of the line, making up for his lack of accuracy as he discharged a second high voltage attack. The cord directed the electricity to the Villain struggling in my grasp, and from the corner of my eye, I noticed Kurogiri halt in trepidation. Help his fellow Villain or continue the mission.

He didn't have time to decide.

Bakugou was behind him in the blink of an eye, his right arm swinging and fully loaded. I knew from the start that Kurogiri was going to prioritize his boss above all else and dropped my control on him just before another portal manifested above our heads, jerking my wrist to shield the remaining civilians with a cocoon of ice. As expected, Kurogiri didn't flinch, dodging the explosion aimed at his metal torso once again.

"Shigaraki Tomura, it's time for our leave," Kurogiri said.

Kirishima sharpened a fist and Kaminari held out his cracking hands. Bakugou crouched down, his bracers glowing red. The moment the three boys reared their arms, multiple black holes appeared, stopping the attacks before they even had time to launch them.

"Not fair," the mint haired man mumbled.

 _No._

 _He has a name now._

"Shigaraki Tomura," I said.

My breath hitched when the man lifted his head and peered at me through the fingers covering his face. Bakugou and Kirishima noticed the movement and inched in front of me, eyes narrowed, but I slipped past them, keeping the two safely behind me.

 _If he goes after anyone, I won't let it be you._

"Higuchi Reiko," Shigaraki said, his voice dropping to a whisper. "Consider this an act of mercy on behalf of your old man. If it were up to me, I would've taken that blond brat before you had time to scream"

I didn't have time to think, didn't have time to panic, didn't have time to breathe. As swirls of black surrounded him, another portal opened just above Cosmo Clock, and from the hole came a muscular arm deformed in a multitude of sections. Shigaraki and Kurogiri vanished the same second the beast came tearing out of the warp gate with a roar.

"We have to get out of here," I rasped, the chords in my throat straining to work properly. "We have to—"

The Nōmu lunged.

And in that moment, I felt it.

The absence of light in my surroundings, swirls of color amplifying my senses until the blackness took over. I felt a sensation in my lungs reminiscent of asphyxiation, like I had inhaled miasma and couldn't breathe it out. All that was left was me, but this time, my friends and the people we had been desperately trying to protect suffered the same fate.

"Where the fuck are we?" Bakugou hissed, his voice sounding far away despite the fact that he hovered closest to me.

Kaminari let out a cough that echoed in the vast, empty chasm. "Why can't I breathe?"

"I can't breathe either," Kirishima gasped, struggling to keep up with the influx and outflow of oxygenated air. "Shit, I can barely see my own hand."

It was odd that they still had their senses intact, but I didn't realize until Kirishima mentioned it that I could see and hear them perfectly. I was too caught up in the _where_ to think about the _why_.

 _ **Get me out of here, I have to help them—**_

 _I've said before you are not unwelcome in this place, Reiko. This world is as much yours as it is mine, and for now, it is far less dangerous than the alternative._

My last thought before we arrived in this world was that I wished to be anywhere but in that moment. I hoped that we would be able to pull through and not die, among other things, but I never would've thought to be taken here. As my mother's words reverberated in my mind, I couldn't help but wonder if there was actual truth to them.

And if there was truth to them, I had to believe it for the sake of my friends.

 _ **Give me a reason to trust you.**_

The colors returned slowly, surely, illuminating the darkness with cherries and oranges, limes and creams. Kirishima's red hair came into focus in front of me, and on either side of me were Kaminari and Sero clutching their chests, lifeless cheeks redeeming their vibrancy. I whirled around and paused, surprised to find that I was standing on something solid.

When I looked up again, I saw crimson, unusually wide and brimming with wariness. I took a deep breath and relaxed my shoulders, willing him to understand that there was nothing for him or any of the others to fear.

 _ **If this world is mine, I don't want to feel like a prisoner.**_

Their experience in Shihoshi was under different circumstances as mine were all those times before. There were people we couldn't save, people we failed to protect, but even in moments like this, I knew how to be selfish. If I could help it, I wasn't about to let anything happen to them.

"Where the fuck are we, Guppy?" Bakugou repeated, his eyes piercing my own.

I thought about the impending battle we left behind in the real world. Yokohama was still under attack, and though the Villains were gone, a monster had filled their void. Then I wondered about the whys: why we were here, why it changed, why I changed.

 _ **My purpose in this world is not to save it, but to be a part of it. I want to be one of the millions of lights that turn our planet into a star of its own and feel like that's enough. If I can be a light in the darkness, even in this world…**_

As much as I despised this place, as much as I hated to accept the fact that my mother did us a favor by taking us to a barren wasteland where no Villains could find us, I had to admit—

"Don't worry," I murmured. "You'll be safe here."

* * *

The air was malodorous with the smell of blood. Akaguro Chizome stopped beneath a streetlight and sniffed, his figure dappled by the darkness in the alley. A ghostly whisper of wind brought the scent to him over the smell of death and decay, an unmistakable killing intent that stemmed from a pure, albeit tainted soul. There, at the end of the backstreet, stood the culprit: a man clad in a vaguely familiar ivory suit of metal.

It took a single glance at his disposition for Stain to know he wasn't worth killing, but that did little to appease the stranger. Hate and hunger coiled in his stomach, and he made a noise in the back of his throat akin to a low growl before launching at him with unimaginable speed. The Hero Killer dodged swiftly and knocked off the helmet atop his head.

The person he thought was a man was not a man.

Even when his identity was obscured, Stain could tell from the start that he was no Hero, but to find a boy behind the mask was mildly intriguing. Heroes, the real ones, had a reason to fight, and this child had but a petty grudge and a thirst for vengeance that Villains either craved or cowered from. It was in the way his fists curled with an angry purpose and his shoulders hunched forward like an animal about to charge.

"You hurt my brother," the boy said.

 _Ingenium._

Stain remembered his sibling, a man who was actually a man, but a Pro who was not a Hero. His name had spread significantly across the nation when he allowed the impostor to live, and despite serving a minor setback to his plans, he decided he might do the same for his family. There was simply no point in killing his younger brother regardless of his foolishness.

But.

Humans were feeble creatures of comfort, and the lavish lifestyle Heroes tried to maintain was perhaps the pinnacle of such a vapid culture. Those who succumbed to the glamour were ants in his eyes, but ants were hardworking and humble. No, false Heroes were more like leeches, sucking society dry of selflessness and issues that were of actual concern.

"You're weak," Stain said.

The boy sought out for revenge and struck with an intent to kill in spite of the professional Hero, injured and far worse off than him, laying on the dirt floor of the alley, and worst of all in spite of the war occurring mere steps away.

No point in killing him, but no reason to keep him alive. The child was on the path of doing things for his own selfish desires, and allowing him to continue on this road would be cruel and unjust for both himself and the world Stain was attempting to build. With his sword glinting against the dim light—

"Release him."

Stain slowed, his boot pressing down firmly on the body sprawled on the ground beneath him. A few yards away stood a brawny man covered by a trench coat and bandana fastened around the top of his head, and beside him was a much scrawnier figure, seemingly younger and eyes ablaze.

"Knuckleduster," Stain said. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that the so called Heroes have called forth the aid of Vigilantes."

Stain lifted his blade to his mouth. His tongue slipped past his lips to lap at the crimson dripping from the metal, subsequently paralyzing the boy trapped at his feet.

"We're just here to help that kid," Knuckleduster said.

He crossed his arms over his chest, and the brass knuckles on his fingers glinted in the dim light, slightly dented and worn with use. That, in itself, served as a threat.

The pointed edge close to cutting the boy's jugular inched away slowly, tantalizingly until Stain tucked it into his pocket. A breath of relief and disbelief sounded from beneath him, and the Hero Killer fought the urge to glare.

"I have no business left here," Stain said.

Stain knew better than most that Vigilantes held little to no regard for the law. It was against the rules for unlicensed Heroes to showcase their Quirks in public, but the two men wouldn't hesitate to attack if provoked. He would escape, however, because between chasing after him and saving his victims, there was only one ethical option for anyone who would risk jail to help those in need in the first place.

"It's true then?" the younger man asked, his voice closer to a tenor vibrating with simmering rage. "You tried to kill Ingenium?"

"Are you a fan?" Stain asked in return.

"No."

The young man spoke slowly, a touch of resolve in his tone. His knees bent until the left grazed the ground, and then he glided towards the Hero Killer at a speed that might've rivaled Stain himself.

"I'm a friend."

Stain grunted as a right hook connected with cheek, not too powerful but enough to throw him off balance while he had been distracted by the sudden interference. The young man, standing protectively in front of the bleeding boy gaping up at him.

"Friend?" Stain repeated.

"Not surprised you've never heard of it."

"Such an indistinct concept," the Hero Killer said, twirling the blade in his hand. "You're friends with Ingenium and therefore feel the need to save his younger brother."

"Wrong again," the Crawler said. "I'm helping him because whether I'm a Hero or Vigilante or just a regular guy on the streets, that's the kind, human thing to do."

 _The kind thing to do?_

Stain might have laughed if he remembered how, but he was growing vexed at the situation, and the risk of getting caught was growing the longer he stayed idle to chat. The sun had yet to disappear and he had things to do that didn't involve playing with tempered children. For now, as the Crawler did, he would let them slide.

"I've said my piece," Stain said.

The boy shouted in protest as the Hero Killer stepped into the shadows, his voice raw and desperate to cling onto something he never had a grasp on in the first place. Beady eyes swept over him for a moment before stopping on the young Vigilante.

"Do what you will with them, but I warn you now: I won't promise they'll survive their next encounter with me."

The boy, battered and bleeding, let out an anguished cry.

* * *

 _2018_ _年_ _6_ _月_ _13_ _日_

 _ **Official Report**_

 _Three cities received heavy fire:_ _ **Yokohama**_ _,_ _ **Hosu**_ _, and_ _ **Tokyo**_ _. After thirty minutes of fighting, a total of three Nōmu_ _were released in a last ditch effort to usurp the Heroes working to maintain the peace among the public._

 _Thirty minutes after that, all of the beasts were incapacitated by_ _ **No. 3 Hero Kamino**_ _and_ _ **No. 5 Hero Edgeshot**_ _in Yokohama;_ _ **No. 2 Endeavor**_ _and_ _ **No. 4 Best Jeanist**_ _in Hosu; and_ _ **Eraserhead**_ _and_ _ **All Might**_ _in Tokyo, both instructors at_ _ **Yūei Academy**_ _, and both involved in the previous attack at the Unforeseen Simulation Joint._

 _Three hundred and twenty-seven Villains were captured and incarcerated in the aftermath. None were deemed necessary to be imprisoned in_ _ **Tartarus**_ _. With that, thirty-seven_ _people were taken to the hospital for symptoms related to a drug enhancing Quirk known as_ _ **Trigger**_ _. Twenty-three_ _people were captured, three of whom were children. These missing persons have been detained in our medical ward for supplementary examinations._

 _Several students from Yūei participated in defending civilians during the battle:_ _ **Shinsō Hitoshi**_ _,_ _ **Yaoyorozu Momo**_ _,_ _ **Kendō Itsuka**_ _,_ _ **Uraraka Ochako**_ _,_ _ **Kaminari Denki**_ _, and_ _ **Sero Hanta**_ _._ _ **Persons of interests include:**_ _**Iida Tenya**_ _,_ _ **Kirishima Ejirō**_ _,_ _ **Bakugou Katsuki**_ _,_ _ **Midoriya Izuku**_ _,_ _ **Todoroki Shouto**_ _, and_ _ **Higuchi Reiko**_ _. Iida Tenya was brought into critical care with several undisclosed injuries._

 _These events occurred in one_ _of three thousand plus_ _possible realities foreseen by our subject. His vitals are now stable post his session with the child. Upon his most recent trip, we have discovered the likelihood of a conflict_ _between us, the League of Villains, and the Yakuza_ _led by_ _ **Chisaki Kai**_ _._

 _No additional information is available at this time._

* * *

The slow sound of footsteps echoed outside of her door and interrupted the silence that filled her quarters. She awaited his entry whilst sat on the edge of her cushioned seat, quill in hand and brows creased in consternation, distinctly aware of who was coming ahead of the rapping against the piney wood.

"You're wanted downstairs," his voice droned.

Dabi was a relatively new recruit fresh off the streets, stoic, confident in his abilities, and derisive in his own right. It was obvious why Shigaraki thought him insufferable, but she found those same traits rather amusing to witness, especially when clashing with the mint haired kingpin. More than that, he shared an aspect of her Quirk that fascinated her more than she cared to admit, and such was enough to justify an interest in him.

"I will be down in a moment," she replied, twirling the inked feather with nimble fingers.

"Now," Dabi added.

"I believe I said I will be down in a moment."

The temperature in the room spiked at her words. Her lips pressed together into a straight line as a candle tucked in a corner on her desk flickered and then flared, burning brightly until she exhaled. Dabi was unphased, if not nominally amused, barely biting back a quip that might've set the whole edifice ablaze had he let it slip.

"That's your Quirk, huh?" he uttered instead.

A sigh escaped her lips as she gently placed the pen atop the parchment paper she had been writing on. The latest mission was a moderate success and it was her duty to track the progress they've made since the disaster at the Unforeseen Simulation Joint. As much as she would've liked to ask the man a few questions, her work was significantly more important.

"Part of it," she admitted, turning to face him at last. "You do not need to wait for me."

The dimly lit hallway muted his scars, but his skin was smooth and handsome otherwise. The rest of him might've been as well, though she didn't care to notice. Dabi lifted his shoulders, the plethora of chains on his belt chiming in tune with the shrug.

"I'm just doing my job."

"Was your job not to inform me of the fact that my presence had been promptly requested?"

"Nope," Dabi said, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I'm supposed to take you back with me."

She released a second sigh, this time accompanied by a small smile tugging at the edges of her mouth. "I hear you share your ideals with the Hero Killer."

"That's not random at all."

"I admire him as well."

"Really."

"Yes, really," she stood to her full height and approached him by the doorway. "That is precisely why I have personally requested for you to serve under my command."

"Well, boss," Dabi drawled. "It looks like _your_ boss is waiting for you downstairs."

A quiet laugh trickled out of her as she shook her head in bemusement. There was no use in calling offense since he was a new member with little experience in the workings of her world. The fact that the two of them stood on some semblance of a common ground thanks to Stain and his teachings was enough to appease her already, but she had faith that he would learn quickly nonetheless.

"The first rule of thumb around here is simple," she said. "I do not take orders from anyone."

"Duly noted," Dabi snorted, dubious and curious at the same time. "What's your name, boss lady?"

As she descended the stairs, silver strands sweeping the steps, she rewarded him with another serene smile. Her eyes, a stunning ultramarine, glimmered proudly.

"Eir."

* * *

"Your _mom_ is _Kamino_?"

"I know we're floating in the middle of space," I said, frowning. "But use your indoor voices, please."

It had been a while since we arrived in Shihoshi, but a while could've been seconds or eternity and I would've never known the difference. Time passed oddly here in comparison to the real world. Though I grew accustomed to measuring minutes with breaths and hours with tears, the fact that I was here and not suffocating or sobbing until my eyes swelled up made the wait more boring than I expected. I didn't mind boring.

What I did mind was the questions, and though I understood why they were curious, that didn't mean I was keen on answering them. Kaminari and Kirishima still held identical expressions of awe, while Sero raised a brow in surprise. Bakugou was strangely silent, but he already knew this about me, told him myself with the intention of sharing something about myself to someone I started to consider a friend.

This wasn't that.

I felt like I was exposed, and if not for the fact that it was definitely not the time to throw a tantrum over such a trivial matter, I would've crossed my arms and turned my cheek the other way. But I couldn't blame them. Few people were aware of my relationship or lack-thereof with my mother, and that included the scowling blond.

"Wait," Kaminari said, his grin fading into a grim line. "If Kamino is your mom, that means your dad—"

"Yeah."

"Sorry, Rei—"

I shrugged, looking down. "You didn't know."

"No, he's right," Kirishima said, shaking his head. "It wasn't cool of us to get excited before asking if you'd be okay with that."

"You don't have to ask for my permission to get excited. My parents are Heroes," I didn't notice I winced, but Bakugou narrowed his eyes, and I could tell he meant it out of concern. "Were. My mother still is, I suppose. I'm used to it."

"'I suppose'?" Sero repeated.

"I don't get to see her often because of work."

I bit the inside of my cheek and averted my gaze to my shoes and the blackness beneath them, unending oblivion mirroring the abyss in my thoughts. I didn't want to tell them the truth because I didn't know what was real and what wasn't, but I found something close enough in between.

I didn't want to think about the truths I did know either. If my mother hadn't shown up when she did, the chances of us surviving against the Nōmu unscathed would've dramatically declined.

"That sucks," Kirishima said, inching closer and then subtly, almost imperceptibly flinching back.

My brows arched. "Are _you_ alright?"

"'m fine," he chuckled sheepishly. "I was going to give you a hug, but I didn't want it to be awkward. Tried it with Bakugou once and he punched me in the stomach."

"You tried to hug Rei?" Kaminari exclaimed.

Sero broke into a loud laugh. "You tried to hug _Bakugou_?"

"That's what people do when their friends are upset!" Kirishima protested, holding his hands up in defense. He turned to me and the blond beside me, pausing apprehensively. "We're friends, right?"

"Yes."

"N—"

I jabbed Bakugou in the side harder than required and he stopped to glower at me, his lips curled into a sneer. "Do that again, I fucking dare you."

His empty threat did little to dishearten me as I pondered Kirishima's words. I thought back to the morning we ended up walking to school together and how just being in his company managed to lift my sour mood, and then I thought about all of the times Bakugou would've been in far worse situations if the redhead hadn't been there to support him.

"You're one of the kindest people I know, Kirishima," I said, ignoring the cutting glare attempting to slice through me. "I'm sure everyone here agrees with me when I say you're our friend."

"And a damn good one at that," Kaminari grinned, firmly clapping him on the back.

Kirishima beamed, his own bashful grin spreading widely to his ears. "You guys are the best!"

"When did this turn into damn sap fest?" Bakugou scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"Probably around the same time we almost died," Sero suggested, lips curving into a smirk. "People tend to get sentimental when their whole life flashes before their eyes."

"Over my fucking dead body," the blond sneered.

"That's kind of the point," I said, half-heartedly teasing. "I'm sorry you guys had to get dragged here. I know it's not exactly the happiest place on Earth."

The boys adjusted fairly quickly to the constraints of the dimension, but it probably had to do with the fact that it suddenly cooperated with me. I couldn't do much about the wait, but at least having people to talk to and tease like this made being in this place somewhat bearable.

"Nah, it's pretty cool," Kaminari said, shrugging. "I was just thinking—"

Bakugou rolled his eyes. "Don't hurt yourself."

"That Villain mentioned Rei's dad earlier," Kaminari continued, pointedly ignoring his fellow blond to look at me. "He said 'consider this a present from your old man,' and now that we know your old man is Rishi—"

Kaminari stopped abruptly, eyeing my reaction to the name and topic as a whole. I probably cringed then, too, because his lips pursed like he was about to drop the conversation, but I nodded sluggishly, encouraging him to continue. As uncomfortable as I was answering questions, that didn't mean I wasn't trying to find some to my own.

"I was wondering about that, too," Kirishima admitted, frowning. "You mentioned when you were telling us about your Hero name that your dad used to read you fairytales, and that creepy dude called you princess back at USJ."

Startled, I blinked at him. "You remember that?"

"Well, yeah! I'm not saying I think your dad is a bad guy now or anything, but—"

"He's alive. He has to be. I don't know how or why, but the League of Villains knows what happened to him, too."

"You gonna do something about it?" Bakugou asked suddenly.

My gaze shifted to meet his, equally dark and heavy lidded with a sense of resoluteness. I knew what he implied, saw it in the way his fists clenched and muscled tightened as if preparing himself for a fight that hadn't even started.

 _Am I?_

It was too much information to process all at once. Just because we were safe for the time being didn't mean our problems back in the real world disappeared either, and despite our intentions, the consequences to our actions outweighed the rewards. There was one thing I could be certain of, at least, and it was that thought that kept the option at the forefront of my mind. Would I go after my father if I knew where to find him?

I didn't know.

But if I did, I knew I wouldn't be alone.

"Ask me again when this is over," I said, looking up at what would've been the sky. "It's time for us to go back."

I wasn't stripped of my senses this time, but they had been dulled upon our arrival, returning in a way that felt familiar—in pieces, tiny doses. The darkness in our surroundings dissipated until all that remained was the shadows, lurking instead of cloaking us completely.

And then the sky was blue again, blotted by oranges that spilled across the clouds like ink. In the distance, I spotted the sun setting slowly, bringing an end to another day. The theme park sustained little damage, Cosmo Clock standing as tall as it did yesterday and the day before, but the space was void of light and laughter, of families and fervorous smiles.

In the epicenter was Nōmu, smothered by the darkness that had kept us safe, and Kamihara-sensei, bruised but otherwise alright standing above it. A breath of relief escaped my lips at the sight of him, and then I collected it again with a sharp gasp at the image of the woman at his side.

Her eyes met mine, and despite everything I had thought or felt toward her, I found that the tears I sensed long before they fell belonged to none other than myself.

"Reiko," she said.

I ran.

* * *

Todoroki Shouto stared at the wreckage in front of him with an empty expression, eyes stripped of the ire that had turquoise and silver set in flames just minutes prior. His father had arrived to take care of the Nōmu that suddenly appeared, backed by the Number Four Hero, Best Jeanist. Midoriya and Uraraka stood beside him, equally drained, though perhaps not as uncomfortable about the presence of their new company.

In truth, he wasn't entirely sure if the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach had anything to do with his father at all. The warp gate from USJ had been in Yokohama at the time of the attack, and his last thought before the creature appeared was a pair of crimson eyes and morbidly, the fear that such crimson might've melted into blood.

"What's the status in Kanagawa?" Shouto asked, trying to keep his voice steady.

His father regarded him with a sharp stare, not caring but wondering why it mattered. His answer was curt. "Kamino and Edgeshot have secured the city."

Shouto released a breath he didn't realize he was holding, and from his peripheral, he noticed Midoriya do the same. Uraraka whimpered, bringing a hand to her mouth as tears prickled her eyes. He knew the two of them shared his concerns, but it didn't occur to him that it would be to such an extent. All things considered, it should've been obvious.

"Todoroki-kun," Midoriya said, pointing at the phone he still clutched in his hand. "Try calling her again."

His fingers moved on their own accord, scrolling through his short list of contacts until he found the name he wanted. The line rang once, twice, a third time. For a moment, Shouto couldn't help but think that the absolute worst had happened—

" _We're fine."_

He exhaled deeply, significantly more at ease than when he let out his first sigh. It was one thing to trust his father's report, but hearing the words from Higuchi herself made the truth a reality.

" _My mother and Kamihara-sensei are here,"_ Higuchi said, her voice laden with exhaustion. " _A Nōmu appeared after Shigaraki Tomura and Kurogiri escaped, but they've successfully incapacitated it."_

Shouto furrowed his brows. "Shigaraki Tomura?"

" _The boss Villain from USJ. We prepared ourselves for a fight, but luckily it didn't come down to that."_

"I see," Shouto said, nodding though she wasn't there to see it. "Things on our end churned out similar results. My father and Best Jeanist have taken care of the Nōmu."

" _That's good to hear. Yaoyorozu called just before you did. Aizawa-sensei and All Might took down the Nōmu in Tokyo without a hitch and she, Shinsō, and Kendō are safe."_

"As expected," he mumbled under his breath.

" _How are you doing?"_

"Not dead."

" _Never would've guessed,"_ Higuchi retorted, letting out a bit of laughter. It was short and listless, but he appreciated the effort. " _You're on speaker now, by the way. Try not to say anything embarrassing."_

Shouto almost snorted at that himself.

" _Hey, Todoroki!"_

He hesitated, unable to pinpoint exactly who it was that spoke, but he greeted them regardless. "Hello."

" _That was Kirishima,"_ Higuchi said.

"Midoriya and Uraraka are alright as well," Shouto added. The two in question looked up at him and he gestured to his phone. "Higuchi and Kirishima," Shouto paused to add the names Higuchi fed to him. "And Kaminari and Sero send their regards."

Higuchi gave another breathy chuckle muffled by a bout of indiscernible yelling. " _And Bakugou, of course."_

"Would you mind putting her on speaker, Todoroki-kun?" Uraraka asked, swiping at her eyes with the back of her hand.

He shook his head and brought his phone down from his ear. "You're on speaker now, Higuchi."

" _Hi_ , _Ochako_ , _Deku_ ," she said, her tone a smidge more sprightly than it had been just seconds earlier.

Shouto wondered if that meant she was more inclined to speak to them than him, but it all made sense when green and brown eyes glimmered at the mere sound of their names. He liked to think he knew Higuchi well enough to recognize when she was putting on a brave face for those around her, and this, for all intents and purposes, was one of those times.

It wasn't that she was faking it, nor did it mean she cared about them more than him; she just knew that there were people such as Midoriya and Uraraka who looked to her like a pillar of support. Higuchi was many things to many people, and that, in fact, included him. His friend, his rival, his classmate and once seatmate. He didn't know exactly why she did it, but he respected her still, if not more than ever before.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" Uraraka blurted out, leaning forward to speak clearly into his phone.

Midoriya matched her movements and inched closer. "Are you sure you're alright, Rei?"

" _I_ _could_ _be_ _better_ ," Higuchi admitted, letting slip a sheepish laugh. " _But I think I'll be more at ease when I can actually see all of you._ "

Months of people uttering it constantly and consistently ensured that her nickname no longer felt strange to his ears. It only added to the parallels he'd drawn between Higuchi and the woman who shared the moniker: secret smiles and curious eyes, a quiet, slow building sort of strength that sprouted from sincere words and the capacity to empathize. A belief in him that he often had trouble sparking within himself.

 _And such stubbornness._

Higuchi chuckled again at a quip Kirishima made in the background, and the gears in his head began spinning at the gesture. There was the difference. His ice Quirk was inherited from his mother and everything about her reflected that: snowy white hair, ivory skin, silver eyes, and a soothing disposition that used to be the single thing in the world that was able to calm him down.

That said, he never understood the intention behind describing something intangible like laughter as warm. Like bells, perhaps, or adjectives like rambunctious and loud and cheerful, but the concept of warmth was always limited to objects like soup straight from the stove, the sun, his flames. And then he heard _her_ laugh.

More often than not it came out like a snort, unabashed at the expense of someone like Bakugou or Kaminari. Fits of chortles and toothy grins that spilled out of her courtesy of Uraraka or Yaoyorozu. An unchanging factor was the wrinkle in her eyes, as if she was grateful to whoever it was that elicited such a reaction from her in the first place.

Shouto had been on the receiving end of that expression enough times to understand why people liked being around her, and perhaps this time, that included him as well. Maybe it was that gratitude, so genuine and so _warm_ , that made the sound reminiscent to a time in his life that he remembered in his dreams, and he found that he didn't mind hearing it again.

"When will that be exactly?" Midoriya asked, taking him out of his momentary reverie.

" _Probably tomorrow or the day after,"_ it was Kirishima who spoke again, Shouto noted. _"Rei's mom contacted our sponsors to let them know we're, you know, alive. I heard they're giving us a day to rest."_

"And then?"

" _And then we have fucking clean up duty the weekend before we get back,"_ Bakugou muttered darkly.

Uraraka frowned. "Clean up duty?"

" _You clean shit, chipmunk."_

"I know what it is!" she exclaimed, her cheeks puffing out in irritation. "I meant _why_ do you have clean up duty?"

Kaminari snorted. " _Uh, so do you."_

" _All of the students who took part in fighting have been issued at least a full day of community service as punishment,"_ Higuchi clarified.

"Punishment?" Midoriya and Uraraka parroted in disbelief.

" _Well, yeah,"_ said a third person. Sero, he predicted, due to process of elimination. " _None of us have our licenses yet, not to mention we're all underage."_

" _This is pretty much a slap on the wrist. It would've been way worse if Kamihara-sensei and Aizawa-sensei didn't tell the police that they gave us permission to defend ourselves,"_ Higuchi said, pausing to take a breath. " _You can't really argue against that when using our Quirks saved our lives."_

Kirishima made a sound of protest. " _Not just our lives."_

"What do you mean?" Shouto asked.

" _As Bakugou might say, some shit went down,"_ Kaminari replied, snickering a bit. His tone turned solemn with unusual immediacy. " _The Villains here targeted an amusement park. There were families, kids, and all of them were being hunted by some psychotic chick with a bee Quirk."_

"Bees?" Midoriya mumbled, brows furrowed in deep thought. "Hunted?"

" _They were injecting civilians with the Quirk enhancement drug,"_ Higuchi said, causing Uraraka to gasp sharply. " _Innocent people, children. I don't know how many we saved, but Kurogiri and Shigaraki—"_

Her sentence trailed off, and for a minute, Shouto thought the call had been dropped again. Then came a scoff, loud and unforgiving, and he knew exactly who it was before the person spoke again.

" _I fucking hate them,"_ Bakugou said, eerily placid. His rage was simmering. " _Those damn bastards deserve worse than death."_

It was silent on both ends for a few breaths, but for once, or at least scarcely, Shouto found himself in agreement with the temperamental blond. An attack of this scale was unprecedented in recent years, perhaps rivaling only the ambush at USJ a couple of months earlier. They had been involved in both events, and the damage around them, physical and emotional and mental, was proof that they unjustly paid the price.

" _Kirishima, Kaminari, and Sero are heading back to their internships,"_ Higuchi said, softly until she cleared her throat. " _But Kamihara-sensei is taking me and Bakugou back home. If you head to the hospital—and you should, by the way—we'll probably see you sooner than the others."_

"Deku-kun might need to get checked out," Uraraka said, glancing at the boy from the corner of her eye.

His face turned red like it always did, but this time he managed to match her gaze and offer a humble smile. To Shouto's curiosity, the brunette turned away first, her cheeks rosy.

He pushed the observation to the back of his mind and looked over at where Endeavor and Best Jeanist directed officers to dig through the rubble scattered throughout the streets.

"My father can take us as soon as he's done here," Shouto said.

" _Hosu General Hospital?"_

"Yeah."

" _We'll be there in a few minutes."_

Shouto blinked at his phone. "Kanagawa is an hour and a half away from Hosu."

" _My mom's Quirk can get us there in five. It might take us longer with Bakugou's whining, though."_

" _Who's whining, bi—_ nch—"

His sudden hesitation caught the attention of Shouto and the two others in his company, their interest in the matter only heightened further at the chorus of cackles that followed it.

"What happened?" Uraraka asked.

" _Rei's mom was right behind him,"_ Kaminari exclaimed through his guffaws. " _Oh, man, I've never seen him so scared!"_

" _Shut the fuck up, pisshead!"_

" _It looked like_ you _were about to piss yourself!"_

" _That's it—"_

An explosion sounded out from the other side, and Shouto resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Uraraka hung her head in exasperation and Midoriya winced, knowing better than anyone what had likely transpired.

" _That's our cue to leave,"_ Higuchi sighed, and Shouto could almost see her struggling not to roll her eyes as well. " _I'll text you when we get to the hospital if we don't see you first."_

"Okay," Shouto said, tilting his head when the brunette nudged his side; she gave him a sideways glance, long and purposeful and obscurely disconcerting. "We'll see you soon?"

" _Yeah."_

Uraraka shook her head, hands forming a heart and then a thumbs up. Shouto frowned in confusion.

"I hope your heart is healthy, Higuchi."

Midoriya slapped a hand over his mouth to keep from laughing aloud, and Uraraka gaped at him, jaw unhinged. Shouto knew immediately that he hadn't said what she wanted him to say, but he still didn't understand the meaning to her gestures, and frankly he wasn't too hung up about finding out. He just gave the brunette an awkward, apologetic shrug.

" _Thanks,"_ Higuchi said.

Moments after she spoke again, mirth in her voice unmistakable despite the static distorting it.

 _There's the warmth…_

" _I hope your heart is healthy, too."_

* * *

"What does that mean?" Kirishima asked.

I shrugged, a small smile tugging at the corners of my mouth. "I don't think he knows either."

Just a few minutes earlier, I had sprinted up to my mother in near tears, demanding why she disappeared and how it took her until then to show herself to me. I didn't think I'd feel so overwhelmed to see her again, but apparently I was more upset about her being gone than I cared to admit to myself.

In the back of my mind, I knew this wasn't the time for a discussion like that. Angry as I was, I didn't hate nor _want_ to hate her, but it took Kirishima holding me back with a hardened arm for me to realize I was acting otherwise. Our first priority now was getting those infected to the hospital and then getting checked out ourselves.

"Your sponsors are waiting for you at the station," Kamihara-sensei said, strolling up to our group dubbed rebels. He gave the redhead a pointed look. "I'd keep your Quirk on when you see Fourth Kind."

"He's mad, huh?" Kirishima winced.

"Well, of course, but apparently not as much as your internship partner."

"Tetsutetsu?"

"I barely know their names," Kamihara-sensei said, jabbing a finger at me and the ash blond to my right. "Speaking of you two, I'll send for your suitcases later tonight or tomorrow morning. We're leaving for Hosu now."

"I'm fine," Bakugou grumbled, shoving his arms in his pockets. Kamihara-sensei made him take off his bracers to give his wrists room to breathe, but training or not, the sheer number of explosions he fired today warranted a check up.

"Don't be so stubborn," I said.

"Don't tell me what to do."

"Don't," Kamihara-sensei deadpanned, lightly hitting us both on the back of our heads. Bakugou and I flinched, more so out of surprise than pain. "Seriously, just don't."

"What a happy family," Kaminari said, swiping a finger under his eyes. "In all honesty, though, you guys were pretty awesome."

"Says the MVP," Kirishima grinned, slinging an arm around his neck.

Sero chuckled, messing up his hair. "No kidding, I didn't know you had it in you."

"Neither did I," Kaminari admitted, bringing a hand to the back of his head. "I would've never done it if Rei didn't ask me."

"We can't forget the brains behind it all," Kirishima agreed, looping his other arm around my shoulders. I blinked, startled and stiff, but after a moment another smile set across my lips.

"You might want to give more specific directions, though," Sero teased, grinning at me. "I can't read your mind."

Bakugou snorted and Kirishima and Kaminari let out equally loud laughs, earning stares from both Sero and a few of the officers from the Police Force doing routine patrols in the area. I rolled my eyes and stubbornly crossed my arms, but distinctly felt my ears burn at the sudden attention.

"She does that," Kirishima said.

Kaminari nodded. "A lot."

"It's fucking annoying," Bakugou said, rolling his own crimson eyes. "Hell will freeze over before she listens to you."

"I get it," I mumbled.

"Interesting," Kamihara-sensei drawled, arching a brow. "We'll have to work on that."

It was my turn to raise a brow, retorting, "The internships end in two days."

"Not like I'll be dead by then," Kamihara-sensei said, his shoulders lifting into a lazy shrug. "I'm still fairly young, you know."

I would've laughed, but a man wearing a familiar trench coat approached us. He offered a kind smile, tipping his hat forward for good measure, and then beckoned for three of the boys to follow after him.

"Sorry to interrupt, but it's time," Tsukauchi said, taking a second to dip his head toward me. "I'm glad to see you're doing well, Miss Higuchi."

I caught the implication in his words and mustered a polite smile of my own, much too aware of the woman standing a few feet away watching us with a discerning gaze. It might've been a stretch to say I was doing well, but the fact that I was alive and better than I was even a day ago was plenty to take for granted.

"That's it then," Kirishima said, releasing his hold on me and the dirty blond on his other side.

"We can save the cheesy goodbyes," Kaminari said, running his fingers through his hair in a lax attempt to tame it. "I'll literally see you guys in like a day."

"Thank you for coming to help," I told them earnestly, bowing at my waist. "I can't tell you how much I appreciate it."

"It was fun," Sero said, flashing a thumbs up. "I mean, not the almost dying part, but everything else hurt less thanks to you guys."

The three went on their way with tired smiles and limp waves. Like Kaminari said, no need for overly emotional farewells when we would see each other again soon, but with the adrenaline dwindling down to depletion, I started to feel the exhaustion creep up.

I knew from experience that reality would be the next thing to swathe me, and the reality was that there were people we failed to save, people who didn't deserve such cruel fates. I learned things about my father, reunited with my mother. It would take time to recover from those thoughts, but like Sero said before he left, it would be less painful having each other to help us through them.

Too much happened today.

"Reiko," my mother said, suddenly appearing next to Kaminara-sensei. "It's time for us to take our leave as well."

"We're ready," I said, head lolling in a sluggish nod.

Bakugou twitched, the movement so microscopic that I thought I'd just imagined it. "You look like you're about to knock the fuck out."

"I literally feel dead."

"You sure you just didn't get dropped on your head?"

"We have the same exact class rank," I mumbled, staring idly at the swirls of shadows pooling at our feet. "You're just as dumb as I am."

"The education system is a social fucking construct," Bakugou muttered, rolling his eyes.

I opened my mouth to retort, but found that I agreed. "You're not wrong."

"You better not fucking pass out on me again," he added, his eyes leaving mine to watch the darkness surround us almost entirely.

My mind was jumbled in a similar vein, thoughts tumbling until I was left with a shambolic disarray, but I reminded myself that there would be a time to cope with all that happened later. I felt an itch beneath my skin, familiar yet foreign at the same time.

"No promises."

And then we disappeared.

* * *

When Iida Tenya woke up, the first thing he noticed was that he was on a bed. He quickly deduced that he had been taken to the hospital, and it was the thought of why he was at such establishment that sent the machine monitoring his heart rate thrashing uproariously, alerting the nurses outside that he was clear and conscious.

 _The Hero Killer._

Iida sought him out to impose justice where it was due. There was no thinking involved, no planning ahead of time, and certainly no intention of informing anyone of his mission. That was what it was. A mission. A task. A duty. It was something he desperately needed to do, and not only did he fail, but he risked the life of another Pro Hero in the process.

Vigilantes had to save him.

He used to think ill of them, but these days he had no qualms aside from the fact that they routinely broke the law in order to help those in need. The world wasn't always black and white, Iida was learning quickly, and this was one of the subjects set firmly in the gray area.

His brother had told him once about a boy who wanted to be a Hero and needed a little help in achieving his goal. In that moment, in that alley, he realized that same boy was the pseudo-Hero who had stepped up to protect him from Stain.

" _I'm a friend."_

As much as Iida appreciated being alive, he wasn't sure how to feel about the interference. It gave the Hero Killer a chance to escape, and now he was out on the streets still hurting innocent people, while he—he could admit to himself that he was more angry at the fact that he couldn't do anything to stop him.

Couldn't get _even_.

Revenge was powerful, and powerful was precisely what he needed to be if he wanted to hurt Stain worse than the Hero Killer hurt his brother. To inflict pain worse than death itself. To be the absolute worst version of himself in order to do all of this without hesitation. Iida had been ready and willing to give that up until—

"I heard you were awake."

Iida lifted his head and saw him standing there wearing a relatively average civilian outfit. His savior. His brother's friend. _The Crawler._ He was clad in a pair of blue jeans and gray sweater, hands tucked into the pockets and the hood thrown over his head. Iida didn't think he intended to be recognized, but the slight smile on his face told him otherwise.

"You," Iida croaked, his voice still hoarse from sleep. "Thank you for saving my life."

It was a true but hollow statement, but no one would know the difference unless they peered into his eyes, steel blues that had dulled into a slate of silver like a once clear sky shrouded by storm clouds. Iida could count on his single hand the people who might've been able to blow the tempest away, and at the top of the list was Iida Tensei, his brother. The image of him in a hospital bed albeit far worse off than he only served as a reminder that amplified the squalls.

The Crawler chuckled, breaking Iida out of his thoughts. "I just wish we could've gotten there sooner."

 _I wish you had never come at all._

"It was noble of you to be there in the first place," Iida said, forcing a smile on his face. "I did not think anyone would be able to find me in such a short amount of time."

 _I didn't want anyone to find me._

Had he not been so lost in his anger, Iida might've noticed the flicker of cautious mien cross the man's expression. He was more transparent than he liked to believe, and his fury, which started out much like a burning, passionate zeal, had turned into a frigid, biting, all-consuming _hatred_ that made him numb to his surroundings.

"Well, I'll be there again if you ever need anything," said the man, taking the liberty to step into the room. "My name is Haimawari Koichi, by the way."

Iida stared at him with something akin to a simmering sneer. "Is it truly wise to reveal your identity to me?"

"I trust you."

"You do not know me."

"I know your brother. And I know you're not the same person, but if you're anything at all like he described you to be, then I can trust you."

Haimawari Koichi had heard of such loathing convert even the most reputable of men, a Vigilante like himself, into the most prolific serial killer in recent history. To watch the same thing happen to a promising young man with an equally encouraging family was absolutely devastating, and he'd be damned if he sat by and just let it happen.

"He's spoken to you about me?" Iida asked, his voice waning.

Haimawari nodded. "Many times."

"That is like him."

"He's really proud of you," Haimawari added, his lips curving into a smile. "Told me about how you were accepted into Yūei, at the top of your class, became class president."

The shadows on the young man's features were slowly subsiding at his words. Though they were still very much present, the semblance of a boy who admired his brother and wanted to become a Hero himself was significantly more prominent. Morbidly, Haimawari wondered how long it would be until the darkness smothered it again.

"Do you know when I can leave?" Iida asked, fisting at the sheets covering his legs.

It sent an unpleasant tingle shooting up and down his arms. Iida winced and unclenched his hands. Haimawari caught the motion and sighed, shaking his head in apology.

"Recovery Girl is on her way along with your parents," Haimawari said. "Depending on how much she can heal you today, you might need stitches on your right arm."

"In other words, a while."

"Unfortunately."

"May I be left alone until my parents arrive?" Iida asked, deeply and despondently.

Haimawari hesitated, mind whirling. He explicitly stated that he trusted the young man, but it was far too soon for him to be left alone with his mind. Not in the state he was in, and not with the murky contour seeping into the crevices of his face.

"Sure," Haimawari said, turning to point outside the door. "I'll be in the waiting room until they get here. I should warn you now that the Police Force will be expecting to ask you a few questions."

 _Tsukauchi can get the truth out of him,_ Haimawari thought.

"I see," Iida said, his eyes flitting to the suit hung neatly at his bedside. "Am I allowed to inspect my Hero costume?"

Red flags of alarm started his head, but Haimawari reluctantly shut them down or at least shoved the thought to the back of his mind. It was important to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"It's all yours."

"Thank you," Iida said, dipping his head forward. "I appreciate the company, Haimawari-san. I won't keep you any longer."

Haimawari nodded and offered him a final, fortifying grin. Maybe if he saw the blackness that blanketed the young man's eyes, or maybe if Iida looked up in time to see the kindness in that smile, things could've worked out differently, but there were millions of alternate realities, and this was theirs.

Minutes after the Vigilante left his room, Iida crept towards his suit. His arm stung with the sort of pain that felt muddled by medication, and he fumbled to open the secret compartment in the costume that only he and the people who made it knew about.

Inside was a vial smaller than his pinky, filled to the brim with a dark, liquid substance. As he held it in his hands, Iida thought back to the woman who had arbitrarily given it to him earlier that day.

" _Take this if you want to get stronger."_

He eyed her warily, but the prospect of power was heavy on his mind, and instead of running away or throwing the cylindrical container to the ground, he took the bait.

"Who are you?" Iida asked.

"You can call me Harley," she'd said to him, her lips curling into a roguish grin. "Harley _Quinn_."

Blustery blues glanced at the trash can on his left and his suit on the right. Less than a second later and without hesitation, Iida tucked the vial back into the compartment.

* * *

 **postscript**

there were a _lot_ of easter eggs in this chapter. i'll probably name a few at the end as well, but it was just an amalgamation of beginnings and endings. like, mikoto is back, team bakugou is pretty much solidified with the exception of mina, who is going to have more of a presence in later chapters along with the other girls. new villains have been introduced. more characters from illegals have made their reappearances. i feel like i should apologize for a dozen different things, but i think i'll keep quiet about the elephant in the room until people start ajskdhlkjsdhf-ing at me. writing that last bit was painful and necessary and thrilling and i can't wait to see where it leads.

i hope it makes sense now why i've been so stressed about writing this, and more than that, i hope it turned out alright. as always, please let me know what you think! it's hard to believe after almost a year since i've posted this story, we're nearing 700 favorites and have passed 800 followers, but i couldn't be more grateful for all of the support.

thank you for reading!


	18. Ribs

No copyright infringement intended.

* * *

—

 **XVIII. Ribs**

—

* * *

My father wanted to name me Ryūjin.

It translated to _dragon god_ , and in some traditions that was equivalent to Ōwatatsumi, the tutelary deity of the sea. Ryūjin lived in Ryūgū-jō, his palace built out of red and white coral, and from there he controlled the tides with magical jewels.

I never questioned why my dad wanted to name me after him, at least not once I was old enough to comprehend the concept. He didn't mind keeping it even after they found out I was a girl, but under the impression that my Quirk would've mirrored theirs, my mother didn't want to give me such a specific, permanent title.

 _Reiko_ came to her in a dream, and after a bit of convincing, both of them agreed that I might've had an easier time growing into that name instead. It translated to _child of thankfulness_ , among other things, and as soon as I was born, I supposedly lived up to the hype. Toddlers with an innate capacity for empathy was unheard of amongst preschoolers, and yet there I was.

Myths about the sea expanded to include legends about the skies. According to Kan-oji, I ate it all up, becoming friends with the planets and the Man on the Moon. I had no understanding of Quirks until I turned three and a couple of our neighbors' children developed theirs earlier than usual, but by then I wanted to be just like my parents, controlling space and time and the constellations covered by the clouds.

Months after that, I started learning about aliens and gods, Sailor Sun and Galaxy Wars. It was around that time I dipped into the world of fairytales and _princess_ quickly became my number one job aspiration. My interest in astronomy never waned, but once I developed my own Quirk, I felt a different connection to the sky.

I didn't want to control it, to be hailed as a god or protector of the universe. I wanted to live in an asterism, to be part of a cluster in the way a single drop of water was part of the sea.

I wanted, perhaps selfishly, to be a star.

My favorite was the second star on the right, something I picked up from a book I distantly recalled in a dream. It was one of the stories my father always read to me before tucking me in.

"This is not a fairytale," he said.

And it wasn't.

Neverland was a safe space for lost kids. It was a place in which children were given a choice to stay forever or grow up in the real world, but as promising as it might've sounded, trying to escape reality didn't offer any permanent solutions. The only thing it led to was repressed feelings and stifled thoughts, festering until a shell of a person remained.

That was me for a long time, and that was my biggest fear now. I was afraid that if I didn't feel some kind of way about things that moved other people, I'd become desensitized to the point where I was, essentially, dead inside. The alternative was feeling too much, so much that I would be incapable of communicating the full depth of my emotions.

Even now, I didn't know which one was the lesser of two evils—pretending to care less about something I loved, or pretending to love something I couldn't care less about?

* * *

The first thing Bakugou did when we got to the hospital was drop to his knees. I knew better than anyone that it was a result of my mother's Quirk, or in his case, not being used to its effects, but all I could do was stare as he caught his breath. Despite years of similar strain, my own heart pumped at a faster than average rate.

"You don't really get used to that," I murmured, holding out a hand.

Bakugou looked like he had half a mind to slap it away, but then came a third figure out of the portal, tall and proud and watching us with sharp eyes. His fingers twitched and grasped mine in an instant, almost like a warning or maybe just distinctly Bakugou. Had my mother not been standing there, I might have laughed.

"We've been given a private room," she said, heels clicking against the tiled floors. "The rest of your classmates—"

"Friends," I rectified.

Her footsteps paused for a split-second before resuming. "The rest of your _friends_ are there now receiving treatment."

I felt the tension in the atmosphere, thick and troubled and palpable like the static pressure Kaminari discharged less than an hour earlier. Bakugou dragged his feet beside me, eyes seemingly glued to his shoes, but he was much too quiet to not have noticed the friction.

As much as I appreciated their support, I didn't want to involve him or any of my other friends in certain aspects of my life, and family drama was at the top of the list. I pretended to be oblivious to his discomfort, reminding myself that I just had to hold out a little bit longer.

The three of us stopped in front of a door at the end of the hallway. Muted but familiar voices could be heard through the partition. I almost shoved through the entrance in my eagerness to see the people inside, but the discerning presence behind me was enough of a reminder to knock first. At that, she cleared her throat, and I mustered the courage to spare her a glance from the corner of my eye.

"I'll be back shortly," she said.

I didn't have time to ask questions or protest before she turned on her heel, but I merely switched my attention to the room in front of us. The chatter ceased at the sound of my knock and was replaced by swift, light footsteps. As soon as the door slid open, I felt lithe arms swathe around my waist and stumbled back a few feet, struggling to return the sudden embrace.

"Hi, Ochako," I wheezed, gulps of oxygen drained from my lungs. "I'm happy to see you, but I kind of have to breathe."

The brunette gasped, releasing her surprisingly sturdy stronghold. "Sorry, Rei!"

"Annoying," Bakugou muttered.

He trudged past us to enter the room. I bit back a minuscule smile when Ochako followed after him, fists raised and flailing about. Not even a minute in and they already started squabbling, but the sense of normalcy it provided took a staggering weight off my shoulders. I wasn't about to complain about that.

"To think I was worried about both of you!" Ochako huffed, cheeks expanding in irritation. "Never again, mister grouchy!"

" _Mister grouchy?"_

I heard a loud sigh of relief and turned to find Deku sat on one of the beds. He looked fine save for the bandages circling his wrist, staring at the two argue with a discreetly gentle smile. Next to him was a head of equally unruly curls as Shinsō watched the same scene with a neutral, almost bored gaze. Neither seemed to notice me until I fully entered the room, but I anticipated their reactions once they did.

"Rei!" Deku said, lighting up. "You're here!"

Shinsō arched a brow. "It's about time you got here."

"My mom wanted to wait until the others were safely with their sponsors," I said, sighing and then offering them a grin of my own. "I'm glad you guys are alright. Thanks for helping out."

"Of course," Deku nodded, his mien momentarily waning at the reminder of why we had to be here in the first place. "Kendō-san went back to Shizuoka with Kan-sensei after she was cleared," he paused, hesitant. "He sends his best wishes."

"He also said you're grounded," Shinsō snorted, leaning against the bed frame with his arms crossed.

I frowned at them. "He did not."

"He did."

"That's low."

"His words, not ours."

"I don't even know if he can do that since—"

 _My mom is back._

The sound of the door sliding open once more interrupted the rest of my sentence. I welcomed the distraction, quickly whirling around to see who had entered. Yaoyorozu stood at the door carrying a bag of bentos, signature ponytail untied and allowing the length of her hair to cascade down her back. Her eyes widened at the sight of us and she gasped before breaking out into a beaming smile.

A glimpse of fresh snow and carmine stole my attention and I looked past her to see Todoroki staring at Bakugou and Ochako bickering about something or another. His gaze shifted to meet mine not a moment later, curious and startled and distinctly relieved. I wouldn't have been surprised if my expression mirrored his to a tee.

"Higuchi," Todoroki said, glancing at the clock on the wall. "It's been more than five minutes."

My breath came out as a chuckle, airy and long overdue. "Must've been the traffic."

"I'm glad to see you unharmed," Yaoyorozu said, taking purposeful strides towards us.

Her hands moved to give mine a reassuring squeeze, and truth be told, I felt a little taken aback at the contact. Hugs from Ochako were routine at this point, but such physical gestures were foreign to my other friend. I suppose that didn't apply when any one of us could've been seriously hurt.

"We had a few close calls," I admitted. "Has everyone been checked out already?"

"Yaoyorozu and I were the first to get cleared," Todoroki said, handing the cup of water he'd been holding to Deku, who accepted it with a smile and quiet thanks.

His hair was a bit messier than usual, but apart from that, Todoroki was perfectly fine. Yaoyorozu looked a bit more scuffed up in comparison, but none of her injuries seemed worse than some scratches and a couple of bruises, and most of those had already been professionally treated.

"Midoriya-san just finished," Yaoyorozu said, lips pursing into a concerned line. "I believe you and Bakugou-san are all that's left."

Shinsō jerked his head over to said blond and Ochako impressively still in the midst of their glaring match. "You should probably do something about that first."

"No thanks," I retorted. "I'll have to step out in a bit to get some food for us, anyway."

I left out the part where I wanted to postpone any sort of confrontation with my mom for as long as I was capable of stalling, but a nagging part of me knew it was only a matter of time.

 _Is this how Deku felt when he told me about his secret?_

"Nonsense," Yaoyorozu said, beckoned to the bag she had set down on the bedside desk. "This is more than enough for everyone, Higuchi-san."

"You should eat, Uraraka-chan," Deku called bravely, causing the brunette to perk up at the sound of her name. "Yaoyorozu-chan brought food."

I gave the blond beside her a hard look. "You, too."

"Don't tell me what to do," Bakugou grumbled, but his stomach growled loudly and unapologetically. He glared at the offender and then at me, two stubborn pairs of crimson unwilling to back down.

"We haven't eaten since brunch," I reminded him, accepting a bento Yaoyorozu passed to me and sliding it in his direction. "My mother is going to have a field day when she finds out I starved you."

"You didn't starve me," Bakugou muttered, swiping the box from me with a roll of his eyes. "I lost a fucking bet."

"Kacchan lost a bet?" Deku asked, turning to the blond.

Ochako grinned at him. " _You_ went out for _brunch_?"

"In his defense, there are a lot of respectable restaurants in Kanagawa," I said, carefully opening the bento Todoroki gave me. I was a bit disappointed that it wasn't filled with spicy noodles, but I reminded myself that hospital food wasn't catered to our taste buds. I didn't _mind_ sushi rolls. "And the bet," I hummed in thought. "No, that was definitely on him."

"What was it?" Todoroki asked, taking a seat at the small table on the opposite end of the room.

I took the chair next to his and Ochako sat beside me with Yaoyorozu on her other side. Looking at us now almost felt like a weird sense of déjà vu, talking and eating together like this despite the fact that I was aware it never happened before. Shinsō had been in our class for a few days at most and here we were chatting like we had things to catch up on. All things considered, I guess we did.

"Best out of three spars," I said, immediately giving the brunette my plate of Japanese food. Her expression brightened considerably as she expressed her thanks, trading her bowl of pasta in return. "Loser couldn't eat dessert at the creperie Kamihara-sensei took us to before patrol."

"That feels like fucking forever ago," Bakugou muttered, grabbing a chair from the table and settling against the wall furthest from the others.

I sobered at the implication, sighing for the umpteenth time since we arrived. "Today was a lot of things."

His eyes slid to the corners and wavered briefly as if gauging my reaction. As passive as the gesture was, it said enough for me to know he was aware I meant that about more than just the Villain attack, and I wondered if he was uncomfortable keeping such information to himself.

It wouldn't be long until the rest of my friends found out the truth about my father, but even sooner was their inevitable meeting with my mother. Not as Kamino, the Pro Hero, and not as the ex-wanted criminal wrongly accused of helping the Hero Killer commit his crimes.

I heard the tell-tale clicking of stilettos echo down the hall and braced myself for the worst. Todoroki glanced at me mid-swallow and I managed a smile to reassure him or maybe myself. More than a handful of people were in on the secret, and I didn't regret telling them, not Todoroki or Bakugou or Kirishima and the other boys, but there was something about _everyone_ knowing that set me on edge.

Soon enough our entire class will know, and then the school, and then the public—

 _Am I ready for them to_ _ **see**_ _me?_

The door slid open.

"Reiko."

I could've dropped a pin on the floor and heard it from the other side of the hospital. Todoroki and Bakugou were quiet for the same reason I was, because they already knew. Shinsō remained silent because he wanted to see what happened next, but Deku, Ochako, and Yaoyorozu were speechless, staring at the entryway in visible surprise because they recognized her as the Number Three Hero.

"Mother," I greeted.

And now they knew her as my _mom_.

Deku whirled around to face our table, dark green curls bouncing as the head they were perched on launched forward in astonishment. Shinsō curiously switched his gaze from me to her and then back to me, unaffected or at least adept at not showing it.

"Are we not going to talk about the elephant in the room?" Shinsō asked, brows nearing his hairline.

"Oh my gosh," Ochako uttered, dropping her voice down to a hushed but excited tone. "I can't believe I didn't know your mom was a Pro Hero, Rei! That's so cool!"

"And Kamino, of all Heroes," Yaoyorozu gushed, bringing her hands to her cheeks.

Kamino was hailed as a genius with an indispensable Quirk, and for someone like Yaoyorozu who thrived on knowledge and an equally treasured talent, that _was_ something worth the acclaim. Ochako reacted to everything like that. I couldn't even be mad.

"'Cool?'" Bakugou scoffed. "Do you hear yourselves?"

The two girls turned to see him brooding at nothing in particular and I gaped at him, surprised that he spoke up at all.

"I came to ask if you and your friend cared for something to eat, but I see there is no need," my mother said, interrupting our side conversation. Her gaze pinned to Bakugou before it swept the room, regarding the others with careful eyes. "I'll be next door discussing matters with the other Heroes. Find me when you're finished here."

In the blink of an eye or perhaps even sooner, she was gone again. I let out the breath I was only vaguely aware I was holding and slumped in my chair, suddenly absent of an appetite. Ochako dropped her grip on my wrist and folded her hands on her lap, immediately conscious of my reaction and Bakugou's words.

"Is everything okay, Rei?" she asked, meekly and with more than a little trepidation.

"It's been a while since we've seen each other," I confessed, forcing a small smile to my lips. "Hero duties and all that. I'm sorry I never told you about my parents."

Yaoyorozu gasped, and I knew what conclusion she came to before she said it aloud. "Your father—"

"Yeah."

"I'm so sorry," she whispered.

That was the way it always happened. People were awed by my mother, and then they remembered that Kamino was only half of one of the most beloved duos in recent history. "We're sorry for your loss," strangers would say, but even to the public, those who didn't know him personally or at all, Rishi was never forgotten.

He was simply just that.

 _Lost._

Now I had the chance to find him, but it was based on a string of coincidences and a remarkably reckless streak that didn't need to get longer. I could think about that later. For now, or maybe for a while, my priority was damage control.

"You didn't know," I said, shaking my head. "Not a lot of people do. I appreciate it, really, but there's no need to apologize."

"It's her," Deku spoke suddenly.

I looked at him next. "What about her?"

"I didn't know it at the time because I was distracted and she was too far to recognize, but that's the woman you kept looking at up at the stands during our match."

"Oh," I mumbled, softer and subdued. "Yeah, I guess it is." _That feels even longer than forever ago._ "When I said a while, I meant I haven't seen her since."

I felt their stares on me immediately, Bakugou and Ochako and Yaoyorozu and Shinsō. Todoroki had turned back to his food, but a pair of wooden chopsticks had been snapped in half and set atop my single-portion meal, and I noticed the slip of paper it came in neatly folded beside his bento. In spite of the circumstances, my lips quirked into an elfin smile.

The stillness that settled in the room took precedence over any personal problems I might've had. It reminded me that this part of my life was too complicated to explain or even discuss in a setting like this. Not at the hospital after multiple citywide Villain attacks, not when we were trying to cope with the stress. My friends deserved better than a half-assed attempt at being _okay_ because none of us were, not right now.

"I ruined the mood, didn't I?" I mumbled, letting out a low chuckle. "Sorry, I don't mean to be such a downer."

Bakugou broke the quietude with a snort, and I was never so grateful to get burned. "Stop with your shitty sorrys."

"Apologizing for things that aren't your fault is counterproductive," Yaoyorozu agreed, lips curving into a tentative smile. "'No need to apologize,' right?"

"Right," I parroted, offering her a more genuine smile of my own.

"Thanks for the sushi, Rei," Ochako said, promptly stuffing a roll into her mouth. "I hope you don't mind the pasta."

"It's the closest thing to noodles she can get," Todoroki pointed out, lifting his own box of food.

I stared at the spaghetti in his bento and raised a brow. "I could same the same for you."

"There's a convenience store across the street," Deku said, masking the concern brimming in his eyes. "We can stop by later if you want?"

Shinsō clicked his tongue at me and rolled his eyes for good measure. "You're going to give yourself a kidney stone."

"Am not."

"I am not starting that with you," he deadpanned.

The conversation picked up from there, snowballing to the point of discussion straying miles away from my family or anything that could've remotely led back to that. I promised I'd tell them about it, but I didn't want to burden them with my problems, and though part of me knew I wouldn't be able to keep doing everything on my own, I would keep trying until I couldn't.

Farther in the forefront of my brain, I pondered about who my mother was talking to next door and why she wanted me to be there. The first and last time she allowed me to get involved in any sort of official Hero business, I found out my father wasn't going to be coming home. Things started changing at an alarming pace, and whether I liked it or not, if I thought I could or couldn't, I had to keep up.

"What if I called you that, too?" Ochako asked, spinning in her seat to stare inquisitively at the blond.

Bakugou frowned. "What?"

"Kacchan!"

 _Moments like this…_

"I'd fucking _rip my ears_ _off_ —"

 _I'll hold onto them for as long as I can._

* * *

Mikoto did not like hospitals.

It was a glass half full, half empty mindset. Those who cared to look at the brighter side of things often viewed such institutions as life changing, life saving, and the birth of miracles like wonderous cures and birth itself. As much as she appreciated the work doctors, Quirkless or otherwise, put into their jobs, Mikoto was far from an optimist.

Places like this reminded her of the people she couldn't help in time, and Mikoto wasn't a stranger to killing or almost dying herself. The magazines and commercials never mentioned that as an important part of her own job description and part of her was glad. People died in hospitals. Half fullers didn't need their naivety tainted by the realities of her world, not as long as she was there to protect theirs.

But there was only so much she could take, and seeing her daughter again for the first time in days, weeks even, was the push she needed to be selfish, not for their sake, but _hers_.

Mikoto had never seen her daughter in a place of imminent danger. Even when she was told about the attack at the Unforeseen Simulation Joint or saw a few seconds of the battle tournament at the Sports Festival, she was aware of the people around her, people she trusted to protect the children from anything serious. The image of Reiko standing in the war path of a hungry monster changed that.

 _Infuriating._

A burning sensation she identified as a seething sort of anger at the creature that tried to harm her daughter. It was all she could remember about that moment. The question no longer determined how to keep Reiko safe, but how _she_ could protect her. The most horrifying part of all was that when the smoke cleared and they stood face to face, she had absolutely no answers.

"You understand the severity of her actions, don't you?" Enji asked, folding his arms across his chest.

Mikoto smothered a snarl and smiled. "You mean the same actions _your_ son took?"

"I'm never having kids," Kamihara said, bringing his fingers to massage his temples. He eyed the man beside him. "Isn't that funny? They're your kids, too, in a way."

"Two of them are yours as much they are mine," Aizawa retorted, his back leaning against the window sill. "The semester will resume on Monday as planned, and those who participated in any sort of fighting—"

"Under your supervision," Kamihara added.

"Must complete mandatory community service the day prior."

The sun started setting outside, turning the skies into a palette of pinks and oranges. Aizawa had been through hell and back, not in his attempt to protect the city and his students, but in his fight to make sure the head of the Police Force didn't bite any of their heads off.

All Might looked solemn, his expression muted due to the dim lighting in the room. The regret and concern in his expression barely concealed the anger underneath.

"Those who are physically able, you mean," All Might said, unusually quiet at his position near the door. "Iida Tenya required a few stitches and may need to undergo surgery—"

"What?"

Mikoto pursed her lips and looked behind the blond behemoth to find her daughter standing outside, still and stupefied. Next to her was the boy she vaguely remembered from her match, a boy with messy curls and an equally astonished disposition. It was easy to sense them coming even before they left their room, but she had no way of knowing All Might would disclose such information with the door ajar.

"What happened to him?" Reiko asked.

Head held high and shoulders squared, Mikoto might've had a moment to be proud of her posture if not for the fire in her eyes. That was another one of the things required of a great Hero, a sort of zealousness that didn't deter in the face of their enemies, and she was more than a little concerned that her daughter ignited such a flame within her at this age.

Heroes who had that kind of resoluteness often saw no reason to hold back, and that wasn't exactly something that brought comfort to her as a mother when the League of Villains was involved. The whole reason Mikoto worked tooth and nail to train her was to give her a way to protect herself from the flames, not jump in and embrace them.

Reiko wasn't like this before.

 _Was she?_

"Don't worry, he's stable," Aizawa said, taking the few steps to cross the room. Reiko relaxed the slightest bit as he approached, and Mikoto wondered if he caused the shift. "He had an unexpected run in with the Hero Killer—"

" _Who?"_

Mikoto opened her mouth, ready to chastise her daughter for interrupting, but Aizawa merely narrowed his eyes and Reiko straightened, reluctantly though not begrudgingly.

"Young Iida was trying to assist a Pro Hero who had been gravely injured," All Might added, straining to provide a reassuring smile. It was duller than his trademark grin, but it was a grin nonetheless. "An unfortunate but inevitable result of foolish actions with noble intentions."

"Sound familiar?" Kamihara drawled.

Reiko turned to him, frown deepened, but the sound of her mentor's voice seemed to calm her even further, at least smoothing the creases across her forehead. "I said sorry."

"Will Iida-kun be alright?" the boy asked, unbridled concern seeping into his rushed tone.

"Iida only needs stitches because he doesn't have the energy to completely heal with Recovery Girl's Quirk. The surgery is just another precaution, but it'll take a few days for him to recover either way," Aizawa said, looking at them both. "He'll be doing his share of community service at a later date than yours."

Mikoto had to commend them for their efforts in pacifying two teenagers obviously worried about their _friend_. The term felt foreign to her lips, and admittedly, she was quite taken aback when Reiko corrected her misuse of the word. It wasn't that she didn't think her daughter was incapable of having them, but the scale of her concern for those in her class was unprecedented.

An even larger pill to swallow was the thought that perhaps it was because neither of them were used to having to care about others at all, and Mikoto knew that would've been entirely her fault.

"That's good," Reiko murmured. "I mean, that's terrible, but in hindsight, I suppose things could've been worse."

Kamihara let out a humorless snort. "'Could've been worse' is our motto for this whole mess."

"On record, I really am sorry," she said, lowering her head and a moment later inclining at her waist. "More so for disobeying you than anything else. I've done nothing before and just couldn't do nothing again."

Mikoto stared at her daughter bowing in a perfect ninety degree angle and then at the three teachers gaping at the scene with various grades of surprise. All Might was no longer grinning and instead looked almost as shocked as she felt, but the hard lines on his face softened into something more sincere. Aizawa might've passed as indifferent if not for the ghost of an exasperated smirk pulling at his lips.

"I almost don't want to give up custody," Kamihara sighed, a breathy sort of sound that was more like a chuckle than a scoff.

"Keep them,' Aizawa deadpanned.

"Almost," Kamihara stressed. "Besides, I only like this one," his hands moved to gestured to Reiko. "And the wired blond," he paused, turning to the boy peering up at him. "You seem alright, I guess."

Reiko straightened to her full height, a small smile on her lips. Something in her expression, many things, perhaps, made it evident that she still carried burdens on her shoulders, but unlike before, it didn't weigh her down. Now she carried them.

 _And willingly, she carries on._

The rest of the world considered All Might, Eraserhead, and Edgeshot beloved Heroes, but to Reiko and the other kids, they were teachers, mentors. In the months that they've been together, mere days in terms of internships, they managed to form a genuine bond with them, something that Mikoto hadn't been able to accomplish in years with her own daughter. Though it would've been a lie to say she knew how or why the end result turned out so differently, she knew enough to admit that she should've tried harder.

In his silence, she nearly missed Enji staring mutely at the door, or perhaps specifically at the figure just past it. Waiting patiently outside was another boy with two-toned hair and eyes, his hands shoved against the pockets and back against the wall. Mikoto noted the striking resemblance to his mother and briefly recalled his name.

 _Todoroki Shouto._

Mikoto knew he was here for Reiko, but her thoughts didn't linger on that fact. To her dismay, Kamaya's words echoed in her mind instead.

 _Reiko doesn't need_ _ **you**_ _to protect her anymore._

Her vow repeated in a similar vein, urging her to listen and learn from those who achieved what she could not. In a desperate attempt to keep her out of her world, Mikoto kept her daughter on a tight leash, but the latter had taken the reins into her own hands and built a family of her own, on her own. It was with that thought did Mikoto realize what she had to do.

 _For her sake…_

* * *

"Should I ask what's wrong?"

As always, the warmth at my side told me who spoke before I even looked up, but this time I also heard it in the manner of his approach. The absence of urgency or hesitation in his footsteps was a tell-tale sign that he meant to be here, and I couldn't think of anyone who would have any reason to do that aside from him.

Midoriya's would've been soft and silent like he wasn't sure if it was okay to be there, Bakugou would've stomped around like he'd rather be literally anywhere else. Yaoyorozu and Ochako would've stopped to chat about nothing in particular.

But Todoroki?

Todoroki is… Todoroki.

"Iida had an unexpected run in with the Hero Killer."

As I replied, I kept my eyes on the vending machine in front of me. Milk, banana milk, coconut water, cola. I wasn't thirsty, but I knew I was more dehydrated than usual due to my excessive use of my Quirk.

"You don't think it's unexpected," Todoroki said, idly staring as I fished for spare change in my pockets.

"No, I don't," I said, counting a fistful of coins. "I didn't think it was a coincidence that he decided to take an internship offer in Hosu either, and this pretty much confirms any suspicions I had."

"Is he alright?"

I dropped a few coins into the designated slot and pressed the numbers required for the banana milk. I repeated the action a second later, and two small cartons fell to the bottom with a thump. Todoroki didn't say anything else, but I felt his eyes on me when I knelt down to pick them up.

"Physically, he'll make a full recovery," I held out a banana milk to him and Todoroki took it curiously, tilting his head to the side. "He might need surgery on his arm, but I don't think it'll be anything Recovery Girl can't heal."

"'Physically?'" Todoroki echoed.

"You saw him back then. Iida didn't seem all there before we left for our internships. I think my biggest concern at the moment is that he didn't run into the Hero Killer so much as he went out of his way to look for him."

Todoroki carefully uncapped the carton and peered inside. I watched in mild bemusement as he took an inconspicuous whiff. I twisted the top off my own drink, but paused and eyed the carton in his hands in realization.

"You've never had banana milk?" I asked.

Todoroki lifted a brow. "Have you?"

"It's my favorite," I took a swig as if furthering my point and he mimicked the gesture a second later. "What's the verdict?"

His nose scrunched and he blinked twice, testing the taste for a moment, but slowly, Todoroki nodded.

"I like it."

The corners of my lips twitched into a small smile as he took another sip. My mother wasn't keen on having sweets in the household, but I supposed she figured banana milk wasn't that bad. I grew up drinking it almost everyday after I came home from school and any late nights that required a few extra hours of studying since I wasn't fond of the taste of coffee. It was too dark, too bitter.

 _Like Iida._

He didn't just happen to run into the Hero Killer. Not in the midst of a citywide attack, and especially not since a Villain of that caliber didn't commit his crimes on a whim. His killings aimed to garner attention on behalf of his ideals, but Stain had no reason to want to be caught. An attack on a high school student with no relation to his plans seemed incredibly out of touch with his modus operandi.

If he hurt Iida, then Stain must've felt like he had no other choice, and I couldn't think of any other reason for that apart from having been threatened himself. The fact that Iida felt the need to go after the Hero Killer at all meant that things on his end turned out to be much worse than I thought.

"I'm worried," I admitted.

"You do that lot."

"Aren't you?"

"The easiest way to solve a problem is to prevent it from happening," Todoroki said, maybe stated considering how matter-of-factly it came across. "And I've learned the hard way that the easiest way isn't always the best."

His fingers gripped the carton a bit tighter as he continued, adding, "I don't have time to worry about what he might or might not do, but I won't turn a blind eye if either one results in him needing a hand."

I stared at him, equal parts stupefied and impressed. More than that I was grateful. I didn't expect to get such thoughtful advice from Todoroki, of all people, at least pertaining to someone he barely talked to on a regular day, but there was always more to him than meets the eye, and it seemed like his quota for surprising me still hadn't hit its limit.

"Thanks for the pep talk."

"You don't seem to have a lot of pep."

"It's been a long day and my stamina sucks."

"I heard from Bakugou you've improved," Todoroki paused, then shook his head. "Well, it was implied."

"I wouldn't hold your breath," I said, turning on my heel. "He's not going to stop until he gets even or straight up buries the score."

"You mean hatchet."

"It took everything I had not to say _me_."

Todoroki shrugged like he didn't know why that was an issue. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes the same way I struggled not to inch closer when he started walking alongside me, but it didn't matter. My shoulder brushed against his, the right instead of his left, and the waft of cool air felt soothing against my arm.

"Don't let him."

In all truthfulness, I almost laughed.

It was that simple. Not easy, just simple. And the more I thought about it, the more I came to notice that things with him seemed to be exactly that. I relied on my brain often, sometimes a little too much, but I found that I was always thinking less and feeling more whenever he was around.

Though I could admit that part of it had to do with the brewing something I felt towards him, I realized that an even bigger reason for that was because Todoroki didn't do things without purpose. For someone like me who had to analyze every aspect of any given situation, I couldn't help but admire that.

I liked to believe that everything happens for a reason, but he taught me that those reasons didn't have to be decided by fate or Gods or the universe or maybe even decided at all. As long as I did things genuinely and with my own intentions, I didn't need to worry about the minutiae.

All I could do was try to be a little more empathetic and a little more present. To be honest, I might've taken that for granted. I'd gotten through some pretty rough times myself simply because he was there, after all.

"You're still worried," Todoroki said.

"Of course I am."

"But?"

I looked at him from the corner of my eye, brows raised. "What makes you think there's a 'but'?"

"Things are never black and white with you," Todoroki said, shrugging again. "You wouldn't stop worrying just because I told you not to, but you'd also take what I said into consideration. I'd like to think so, at least."

"You're right," I said, a bit startled at the accuracy of his analysis. "About everything. I can't help but worry, _but_ ," I emphasized, and he rolled his eyes. "I'm not as lost on how to help if he needs it."

"How did Midoriya take the news?" Todoroki asked, downing the last of his drink as the two of us rounded the corner.

"I haven't had a chance to talk to him about it," I said, politely dipping my head at a nurse we passed by. "He stayed behind to discuss something with All Might. It didn't look like it was going to take long, though."

"My father is leaving soon to patrol the area. All Might must have his own duties to attend to himself."

My steps slowed down as we neared the room my mother and the other Pro Heroes were stationed. Kirishima, Sero, and Kaminari stayed behind since their internships were closer to Kanagawa than Hosu, but the latter was apparently showing signs of a fever, and the Police Chief wanted all of the students with injuries to get checked into the same hospital. If she hadn't already, she was probably leaving soon to pick him up.

"What was it like?"

Forcing myself out of my stupor, I glanced at Todoroki to find him staring at the same door I had been looking at. "What was what like?"

"Seeing your mother again," Todoroki said, eyes flitting to look at me instead. My expression must've betrayed my surprise because he averted his gaze not a second later. "You don't have to answer that if you don't want to."

"To be honest, I don't know how to put it into words. I haven't been alone with her since we got back, but I guess I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that she's even here at all."

"Would you have tried to find her?" Todoroki asked, then quickly corrected himself. "That is, if she had left and didn't come home, but you knew where she was."

I was edging on confused at this point, but his question, arbitrary as it was, struck a chord. The irony that it hit the nail on the head about my father instead of the parent being discussed wasn't lost on me. He left and didn't come home, and I had the chance to look for him in the right direction.

 _Would I?_

I couldn't afford to give an offhanded reply about a very real situation no matter how unlikely it would come to fruition. Hypothetical scenarios, on the other hand, I could handle. Had I known where my mother was while she was missing, I didn't think I would've been mature enough to go see her. Definitely not at the time, though it was hard to say even now.

It was a brutally honest answer, and judging by the absent expression on his face, probably not the one Todoroki wanted to hear. It had less to do with my response itself than the fact that I didn't believe for a second he asked a hypothetical scenario in the first place.

"Not right away," I admitted. "I wouldn't have the guts to confront her," _you still don't_. "But I think after a while, I'd try to stop by. No matter why she left or how long she's been gone, she's still my mom. As much as I'd like to change what happened between us, I'd never wish otherwise."

I peeked at him from my peripheral and noticed the faraway look in his eyes, glazed like a screen projecting a movie. People in films had that look when they reminisce about the past, and for a moment, I wondered if he was aware of how beautiful his eyes were, if he knew they sometimes spoke in volumes louder than even he did.

"Thank you, Higuchi," Todoroki murmured.

I pulled myself out of my thoughts and stared at him strangely. "What are you thanking me for?"

 _I should be thanking you for being here._

There was another pause, more abrupt this time. And then I heard it, briefly, almost fleetingly: a short, succinct noise that seemed suspiciously like it could've been a laugh had he not caught himself and swallowed the sound. The only evidence that it happened was the minuscule smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, barely visible but distinctly there.

"Same reason you're thanking me."

Maybe on any other occasion, I'd have felt horrified that I said it aloud, that he heard me at all. But I didn't. I felt the warmth instead, unfurling beneath the surface of my skin and dispersing across each crevice of my body from my cheeks to my toes. It wasn't like the heat from a campfire or even staring at the sun.

This was—

 _Familiar?_

I felt it each time I sat in the sand and sunk deep into the sea, when I'd eat spicy ramen and chase the piquancy with a glass of cold milk. I felt it in the hugs that Ochako gives me, in her fingers when Yaoyorozu grasps my hands, in the palms resting on my head each time Kan-oji messes up my hair. I felt it when Deku shared his most precious secret with me, felt it whenever Bakugou and I bicker while Kamihara-sensei makes comments on the side.

And true to my father's words, I felt it whenever I was smiling, just as I had been since Todoroki uttered that last sentence. The difference between all those times and now was that this time, I felt it because of him, and that meant more to me than I realized.

* * *

Haimawari Kōichi was not a forgetful person.

There had been times when he had to pause to recall if he'd turned off the kitchen light or maybe used his Quirk to help an old lady cross the street without the security of his mask. Generally speaking, though, he had a pretty reliable memory, especially when it came to the important stuff. Most young adults in their mid-twenties didn't have the same concerns he had.

Or maybe they did? His concerns these days often included trying not to fumble on dates and dealing with issues at work. Vigilante duty wasn't exactly considered an office job, but it had a fair amount of stressors, and at the top of the list was the fact that it wasn't considered a job at all.

The first people to agree would be licensed Heroes, though after close to six years since taking on the mantle of The Crawler, Kōichi was self aware enough to discern the discrepancies on his own.

He wasn't a Hero.

But.

" _You don't have to be a Hero to help someone, but when you help someone, then you end up becoming a Hero to that person, right?"_

Kōichi remembered those words as clearly as the night he heard them. He spotted a kid a few years younger than him sitting in a diner by herself some time close to midnight. It was a strange meeting, a little whimsical if he wanted to sound less like a skeptic, but it was one of those moments that people just didn't forget in spite of how much time has passed. Three years was nothing in comparison to such wisdom.

She didn't look any older than twelve, but Kōichi didn't discriminate. Kids these days seemed to have things figured out faster than he ever pulled himself together, especially, perhaps expectedly, the students at Yūei.

As he made his way out of Hosu General Hospital, he wondered if the girl he met at the diner ended up striving to become a Hero herself, if she was one of the children unfortunately sucked into the recent string of Villain attacks, if she really did make it home safely—

 _What—_

Kōichi almost rammed into a wall at his attempt to swivel back around, all but gaping at the pair standing at the end of the hallway. He didn't know what caught his eye first, the two toned hair of the boy standing next to the girl or the girl herself, but he knew even at a glance that she was the same kid from the diner less than a handful of years ago.

She didn't look all that different aside from obviously being older. Both high school kids if he did his math correctly, the two of them dressed in matching shirts and bottoms probably provided by the hospital or someone in charge. Just seeing them there was enough for him to know that they were from Yūei.

No one else would've had the clearance to be on that floor, not even him if it wasn't for Knuckleduster and his connections. Tensei came to mind for a moment, followed by Makoto's smiling face.

 _Well, I might have a few friends in high places, too._

Kōichi thought to say something, but he changed his mind out of courtesy, not wanting to interrupt their seemingly serious conversation. Ironically, he couldn't help but overhear bits and pieces of what they were talking about, and just as he was about to make a beeline for the door, something she said stopped him in his tracks once again.

"Iida didn't seem all there before we left for our internships. I think my biggest concern at the moment is that he didn't run into the Hero Killer so much as he went out of his way to look for him."

A strangled sort of gasp sounded in his throat, barely concealed by the silence on the secluded floor. Kōichi hated that he understood what she was talking about and at the same time didn't think to piece it together himself. Not that he knew her classmate any better than she did or even at all, but—

For someone who prided himself in being a heedful person, it was a stupid mistake on his part not to be more concerned about his friend's younger brother getting attacked by the same Villain who nearly _killed him_.

He'd thought it was more than just a coincidence, but not to such an extreme. Nothing good was going to come out of a kid like that trying to exact revenge on the most wanted serial killer of their generation, and no one would've even known until it was too late.

 _No one except—_

Kōichi glanced at the pair once more and suddenly felt like he was intruding on something much more private than he anticipated. He could hardly hear them now, both speaking just short of murmurs, but the two shared small and secret smiles, their expressions still troubled yet far less tense than they had been moments prior.

Nothing about the scene came across as particularly scandalous save for how candid and incredibly wholesome it appeared (was that _banana milk?_ ), and apart from his concerns about the revelation that had been inadvertently revealed to him, Kōichi found himself unable to help from smiling at the sight himself before quietly sliding away.

 _"Do you need, I don't know, saving?"_

 _"I'm_ _just a kid_."

" _Kids are allowed to have worries."_

It might've taken three years for him to realize it, but Kōichi knew his response at that time was truer than ever. As much as he liked to look at the bright side of things, he didn't doubt that episodes in the city will only get curiouser and curiouser as time went on.

These Yūei kids apparently had a knack for getting into all sorts of situations on their own. Having someone to depend on was literally going to be a lifesaver, and Iida was lucky to have such concerned friends, just as said friends were lucky to have each other.

For the same reason he mustered the courage to enter that diner, Kōichi would do his best to help.

* * *

"Should we go to that market Deku told us about?" I asked, throwing my empty canton of banana milk into a recycling bin. "I wanted to check up on Kaminari, but we have some time until he gets here."

Todoroki looked thoughtful for a moment and then nodded. "I wouldn't be opposed to that."

"You can say yes like a normal person," I quipped, turning to meet silver and turquoise halfway.

"Yes," came his dull response.

Our footsteps echoed down the hallway. Yūei bought out the entire top floor of the hospital to give students and any faculty involved the privacy of getting treated. Part of me wanted to escape for a little bit just because hospitals weren't exactly my favorite places to be, but there was another part that wanted to spend as much time as I could with him before it became a distraction.

"Good talk," I snorted.

"It was," Todoroki said, trailing along beside me. "You've helped put things into perspective."

 _About what?_

"I'm good at that," I said instead, taking a second to shake my head at how it must've sounded out loud. "Giving my two cents, I mean. I think I put in whole dollars sometimes."

"I did ask," Todoroki pointed out, then shot me a benign, almost bemused look as we stepped into one of the elevators. "But I suppose your advice is helpful even when I don't."

"You're implying something."

His eyes glimmered beneath the artificial lighting with scarcely obvious mirth. "You're self aware, at least."

"At least," I echoed in agreement.

There was a peaceful lull in the conversation while we waited for the doors to shut, and the first thing I noticed when they did was our reflections staring straight at us. Todoroki stepped in before I did, arms crossed as he leaned against the wall. He caught my gaze through the mirror and quirked a brow in his own subliminal way of teasing.

 _What are you staring at me for?_

The safest and truest answer was that I wasn't. It just so happened that I'd glanced at myself, as most people did instinctively when presented with a reflective surface, and then I looked at him because he was in the frame.

And kept looking.

If it were any other day, I would've averted my eyes without hesitation, but for some reason or another I couldn't look away. Though he was far from a stranger to me at that point, this was the first time I really looked at Todoroki since I came to terms with the fact that I didn't like him the same way I did Bakugou and Ochako and Deku and Yaoyorozu and Kirishima.

Because of that, I saw him differently.

Three months ago I would've noticed how he stood a couple of inches taller than me and left it at that. Now I couldn't help but notice that if I took a step back, I was at the perfect height to lean into the crook of his shoulder. Three months ago, I would've inwardly agreed with Ashido and Hagakure when they said he might've been the most handsome boy in our year, not immediately think about how kind and thoughtful he was on top of that.

That said, three months ago, I wouldn't have been in an elevator with Todoroki Shouto heading out to buy instant noodles at the convenience store after getting involved in a nationwide Villain attack.

This wasn't a fairytale either.

Todoroki tilted his head, his expression on the questioning side. I thought about how I noticed that habit of his as early as our first real conversation, but didn't find it as endearing as I did in that moment. All the times I was embarrassed at getting caught staring at him before was simply because I'd gotten caught, and I always looked away because I never had a reason to keep looking at him, but now, I admit—

 _Don't be afraid to smile when you're happy._

I always wanted to see him smile.

* * *

It was almost like comparing the sea and the sky.

There is something about the ocean people love to romanticize, sunsets and beach fronts at the top of the list, and at times I felt like I had to love it the same way everyone else did. Or at least pretend like I did. Because I didn't. By definition, romanticizing something meant dealing with or describing it in an idealized or unrealistic fashion, make it deem better or more appealing than it might've been, and that wasn't how I felt about the ocean in the slightest.

Scientists once assumed life would be sparse there, but virtually every probe revealed that, on the contrary, sentience and viability in the deep layer was abundant. Organisms like the giant tube worms adapted to thrive in places known for crushing pressure, little to no light, and freezing temperatures. So many of the summer spots people strived to show off on social media merely scratched at the surface of something steeper.

I admit I wasn't very enthusiastic about the whole thing. I was versed in the dangers of the deepsea and the pollution that plagued it, accepted it the way it was sharks and the possibility of drowning in the darkest depths of our planet and all. The bane of my existence growing up was listening to people talk about tanning at the beach as if an entire undiscovered universe wasn't right in front of them, albeit had I started talking about my love for the unknown, I was sure I would've elicited a few yawns myself.

In a display of hypocrisy or perhaps more mildly juxtaposition, I was curious about the stars and dreamed of ways to be a part of them. It was impossible to put into words the expanse of that universe, the one everyone accepted as something that just _was_ because we saw it whenever we looked up. Clouds were easier to see through in contrast to Atlantis buried beneath the waves. Space was new to me.

The thought of being so small and insignificant in the grand scheme of things wasn't enough to scare me away, but the idea we are all made of star stuff and therefore I'd never be able to completely understand myself was—and terrifyingly so. Millions of questions and zero answers was a ratio I'd grown accustomed to over the years of trying to grasp the secrets within the galaxy and the secrets within me. Neverland didn't exist as an actual star. Pluto was a planet, and then it wasn't, and then it was again.

But _why_?

I adopted the name Ryūjin willingly, resolutely. By tradition and translation, that made me a guardian deity, protecting my world and its inhabitants. Metaphorically speaking, I wanted to be a star. I didn't know how to achieve that, if it was even possible, but that meant I was an inhabitant of said universe. The middle ground was the horizon and the setting sun, metaphorically speaking still, sitting on the edge of the sky reflecting across the water.

It was said that galaxies were formed when clouds of gas and dust collapsed under their own gravitational pull, thus creating stars. If I was made of star stuff, burning too brightly or collapsing into myself under pressure I exerted on my own, it meant that there was a galaxy somewhere out there being born. And if I was capable of that, I was capable of something, and _that_ —

That was all that mattered.

* * *

 **postscript**

ok anon i know i said friday update but i went to anime expo n even tho it was super fun it was 111°F/44°F n after i came home i knocked out bc my headache was so bad rip sorry this is almost four hours late but u got ur chapter didn't u! thx 4 waitin

any ounce of emotion i give todoroki that's remotely close to affection makes me nervous as it is so i need some kind of validation that i didn't do him dirty in this chapter _or_ constructive criticism that can help me fix it aahslsjssk thank u sry i kno im a weenie

it's been almost a year since i first posted this story and to think that close to a thousand people (wtf) have it in their fav or follow box is unreal :-( i started this bc i wanted to experiment w styles n overall just improve my writing but i ended up growing with such a supportive community? thank u guys so much for everything


	19. Tidal Wave

No copyright infringement intended.

* * *

—

 **XIX. Disintegration Anxiety**

—

* * *

By the time Kaminari got to the hospital, the rest of us had been officially discharged. Despite returning to her internship, Recovery Girl asked Yaoyorozu to hold off on training for another few days, but to her dismay Uwabami didn't exactly encourage her to do anything that warranted mandatory bedrest in the first place.

Deku and Ochako checked out a couple of hours ago. I didn't have a chance to meet the former's mentor, but Ochako introduced us to Gunhead before heading back to Tokyo. For someone with such a cool reputation, he acted surprisingly cute in the way he gushed over them, which, of course, had the two blushing all the way to the exit.

"Where's Explodo-Kills?"

I stared at the two remaining boys sat on either side of me, a pair of equally bored stares fixed on the blank wall in front of us. Aizawa-sensei and Shinsō planned to spend the night in Hosu while Todoroki decided to stick around until Endeavor got back from patrol.

I didn't mind their company, but the bouts of silence in between our bare minimum conversations made me even more tired than I already felt. Dusk had long since turned to night and the only sleep I managed to catch up on was a measly ten minute nap in the cafeteria.

"Please don't ever use that name again," I said, barely stifling a yawn. "Kamihara-sensei took him outside to train."

"It's almost midnight."

"It's Bakugou."

"As expected of Explodo-Kills."

"I'm inclined to stop talking to you."

"That's fair," Shinsō said, half-heartedly smirking. "I'm assuming you're still here to check on Kaminari first?"

His eyes remained shut, but I could tell Todoroki was awake by his conscious attempt to control the heat that emitted from his left side. Cold air wafted from his right as if hoping to smother the fervor before it surfaced, but somehow it remained simmering, and I was distinctly aware of the fact that I inched closer to the warmth. It offered a semblance of comfort as the coils in my stomach twisted at the thought of Kaminari needing a transfer to Hosu at all.

"Yeah," I murmured.

Aside from looking exhausted after using his Quirk, Kaminari seemed relatively fine the last time I saw him. To think that was only a few hours ago set me on edge, and the knots tightened with every minute we sat idly watching doctors come in and out of his quarters. I pondered on what could have possibly made his vitals drop so drastically, so fast, but I didn't like the theory I had in mind.

"Excuse me, miss," a nurse said, approaching me. "I was asked to have you sign this."

The clipboard tucked beneath her arm included a stack of papers, but she swiftly flipped to a single sheet that had _Kaminari Denki_ scrawled at the top. Considering the weight of her request, I would've thought she'd mistaken me for my mother if not for my own name printed at the bottom of the page.

"I'm sorry?"

"Eraserhead requested for your presence," she said, tapping at the clipboard with the pen in her other hand. "No unauthorized personnel is permitted inside and those who do have clearance are required to sign a waiver before entering the room."

My brows furrowed in consternation as I eyed the dotted line. "I have to sign a waiver to just to enter?"

"Just her?" Todoroki asked, his elbows on his knees as he leaned forward to peer at the woman. I put in more effort than needed to maintain a neutral façade, and in comparison, there seemed to be a wary mistrust freely radiating off him in waves.

The nurse nodded curtly. "I'm afraid so."

"We're underage," Shinsō pointed out, though not unkindly. "Shouldn't her mother be the one signing that?"

The nurse paused, then strained to smile, but the split-second hesitation told me exactly what I needed to know. I bit back the scoff that threatened to spill from my lips and tried not to dwell on the thought in case I inadvertently made myself more upset than I should've been. The current situation sounded like the opening scene of a sad coming-of-age indie film I wouldn't have the guts to watch.

I took the pen without another word and dragged the tip along the dotted line in a haphazard attempt at a signature. My fingers trembled in anticipation, but the realization that things might've been worse than I initially thought had since turned them cold and numb to the rest of my body. I hardly felt my nails dig into my palms as I stood to my feet, much less the tautness in my knuckles.

All I could think, perhaps a bit cynically, was that I wished I'd just gone to sleep.

It wasn't until I felt a spike in temperature at my side did I realize Todoroki stood up alongside me. His skin burned to the point where I felt the heat unfurl across mine despite standing almost a foot away. Not a second later, he took a step forward and covered the distance between us almost entirely. The warmth shot up to my cheeks in an instant, but I felt the panic seep into my bones just as quickly.

Todoroki tilted his head, asking in his own way if I wanted to do it alone. The easiest part of him to decipher was always his eyes, and I could tell he wasn't worried so much as he was concerned. To most people, the two words had identical definitions, but I recognized the difference regardless of how infinitesimal. Worry was closer to inactionable concern. Concern was closer to actionable worry.

"I'll be back in a minute," I said.

 _Don't tip him off._

I tugged on my sleeve absentmindedly, a fleeting gesture that heteromatic eyes still managed to catch. I mustered a small smile and then turned to Shinsō with a nod before promptly excusing myself. As much as I appreciated their presence, I didn't want to burden them more than I already had, Todoroki least of all.

 _Those eyes see more than he lets on._

* * *

The first thing I saw when I entered the room was Kaminari sprawled on the bed. His features screwed into a grimace that immediately raised the red flags of alarm in my mind, but I didn't process the severity of the situation until he opened his mouth to let out a cough with a rough, staccato like quality that grated at my ears. Kaminari brought his hands up to cover the sound, and even from a distance, I noticed it.

His tongue was black.

 _No._

I sucked in a sharp gasp, alerting him of my presence. Kaminari jerked his head towards me and the movement made him cringe, setting off another round of dry stridor. It was then did I notice Aizawa-sensei standing at the foot of his bed, his eyes abnormally wide, and a short breath of air shot through my lungs once again when I realized his Quirk was in effect.

"Put up a wall, Higuchi," Aizawa-sensei said, keeping his gaze locked on the boy in front of him. "It's just a precaution, but try to hurry. I can't hold off blinking entirely."

Despite my brain speeding at a million miles per millisecond, I followed his instructions without fuss. My flask was tucked away with my costume in the other room so I pulled moisture from the air and built a barricade between us and the blond. Like he predicted, Aizawa-sensei shut his eyes a second after it was set up. The only reason I knew that was because a sudden burst of lightning would've probably taken me out had he not opened them again in time.

"Sorry," Kaminari winced, bringing a hand up to cradle his head.

I stared at him in astonishment. "What the hell?"

"As you might have guessed by now, Kaminari has trace amounts of Trigger in system," Aizawa-sensei said.

"One of the bees must've grazed me," Kaminari added quickly, catching my reaction. "The drug wasn't injected directly into my bloodstream or anything so I'm pretty much fine aside from—"

He cut himself off with another dry cough, and from the corner of my eye, I saw Aizawa-sensei frown, his own eyes slightly twitching as he resisted the urge to blink. Kaminari must be why he and Shinsō had to stay for the night.

"I basically have all the symptoms of a common cold," Kaminari said, swiping a finger under his nose. "Like, a really bad cold, but it's not _as_ bad now with my fever going down."

Most people would've said something along similar lines to keep friends and family from worrying about them, but Kaminari was a bit of a hedonist, and he didn't mind attention. For him to say that must've meant things weren't actually as bad as they seemed, and I was inclined to believe him.

That, of course, didn't lessen any of my concern, nor did it do much to quell the guilt suppurating in my stomach. Thoughts like _I should've paid more attention_ and _if I just tried a little harder_ came in torturous tides, but I swallowed the bitter self-reproach and forced myself to tune out the niceties.

"The effects of the drug are still taking place, albeit at a much slower and far more benign rate of acceleration," Aizawa-sensei said, his tone matter-of-fact. "It wouldn't have advanced at all if not for the nature of his Quirk."

"It didn't enter his bloodstream?" I asked, sifting through the aforementioned theories in my head. The very thing I was afraid of had turned out to be true, but knowing that it was at least on a containable scale provided some sort of much needed relief.

"Not completely."

"It's the lightning, isn't it? Kaminari doesn't have enough Trigger in his bloodstream to elicit any major changes, but the electricity coursing through him sped up what should be a relatively innocuous process, and now," a second blinding flash momentarily interrupted me. "He's overflowing with it."

Aizawa-sensei nodded, seemingly impressed. I didn't have time to pat myself on the back for thinking too much and coincidentally guessing correctly. He already had the situation under control, and that made it glaringly obvious that I was called in for a different reason than I expected.

"Why am I here?" I asked.

"Recovery Girl said my best bet is to discharge all of the stored electricity as soon as possible," Kaminari said, his eyes downcast. "Hosu is a mess right now, but even if it wasn't, there aren't many areas in the city that can handle that much energy without risking multiple casualties."

"What does that—"

It hit me then, sort of like a bullet or maybe a massive train. Kaminari was powerful enough without Trigger infecting his Quirk. No place in this city or _any_ city had the means of containing such high levels of voltage, which meant he needed to do this somewhere essentially deserted.

"You want him to release the excess electricity in Shihoshi," I said, feeling an itch on my spine. "Where is my mother?"

"No one knows at the moment," Aizawa-sensei muttered.

"She's your mom, isn't she?" Kaminari asked, coughing again. "If you asked her to help, I bet she'd be here in a second."

The worst part about this whole thing wasn't even the fact that I had to confront my mother sooner than I expected. It was their expressions, solemn and sympathetic, that had me reeling. Kaminari looked like I stepped on his puppy and I knew just by glancing at him that Aizawa-sensei would've rather been anywhere else in the world. To put it simply, they didn't want to ask me to do this because they didn't know if would agree.

"You have too much faith in her," I said, blankly staring at my shoes.

 _Maybe you're just selfish, Reiko._

"I don't think it's that."

I bristled at the comment and looked up at Kaminari to see that his expression now brimmed with a confidence I wished I possessed. It was hard to stay mad at him when I was the obnoxiously stubborn one, even less so when the grin on his face was replaced by a genuine smile.

"I mean, I don't know her," Kaminari said. "But I know you, right? And I don't think I'm wrong in believing that you're capable of whatever you set your mind to."

"Did you just come up with that?" I asked.

"Full transparency?"

"No, lie to me."

"I saw it on some show the other day and thought it'd be cool to use," Kaminari snorted, his mouth twisting a little mischievously. "Did it work?"

It was safe to say that the inside of my head had been a mess for a while. At the forefront of my brain was still the sinking realization that my mother had left yet again, and stacked on top of that was the fact that both Iida and Kaminari had to spend the night at the hospital for what could've been gravely serious injuries.

To say I was surprised by this, of all things, would've been an understatement, but looking back I suppose the blond always had a knack for words. His skin paled and the bags underneath his eyes indicated a lack of sleep, but his grin was the same Kaminari grin, and like a lot of things from today, I found that I appreciated the familiarity.

 _Might as well suck it up._

"Just barely," I said.

The recent spate of events gave me more than enough to worry about, but based off his smirk I could be certain that this didn't have to be one of them. If Kaminari could keep his spirits up in spite of the circumstances he was stuck in, I had to at least try to do the same.

"No way," Kaminari said, perking up. "Words of affirmation must be one of your top love languages, huh?"

"I am not having this conversation with you."

"Feel free to leave, Higuchi," Aizawa-sensei said, his eyes still trained on the blond. "And thank you."

* * *

The hospital had a rooftop undisclosed to the public, and with permission from the head of staff, Aizawa-sensei gave me the go ahead to try contacting my mother there. I sat near the edge of the building, far enough to observe the city below me, but not so much that I had to worry about falling off. It was late into the night, and for a city that had just survived one of my worst nightmares, Hosu thrived.

Despite the summer's night breeze, I pulled my knees to my chest in an attempt to stay warm as I observed the dwindling occupancy in the diner across the street. People watching remained one of my favorite past times, mostly because it didn't take much effort and gave me a chance to sit by myself without actually feeling alone.

A coffee shop next to the restaurant hosted a handful of customers: a bespectacled young man typing away on his laptop, a girl around his age tapping frivolously at her phone, and another girl, younger than the first but still a few years older than me, flipping through a burly novel. Every now and then the latter would take her eyes off the pages in her hands and look out the window, staring at the people on the sidewalk with the same curious eyes I used to surveil her.

I wondered if the three were university students, or maybe they were still in high school like me. The semester would come to a close in the next couple of weeks, leading us to final exams right around the corner. It wasn't out of the ordinary for people to loiter at cafés, nibble on granola bars, down cold brew, pretend to study.

My next thought entertained the thought of them being Quirkless. In this society, not having a Quirk was more of an anomaly than attending a prestigious academy catered to grooming the next generation of Heroes. That said, it was safe to assume that being Quirkless could've been considered more of a burden than almost dying at the hands of Villains bred to kill—funny how that worked.

Nothing happened for the next few minutes except for the young man ordering another cup of coffee and the first girl standing to presumably use the restroom. I resisted the urge to pull out my phone and take a note out of her book, texting Ochako or Yaoyorozu, perhaps even Todoroki if he was still awake. Every conversation would've just made me hyper aware of the inevitable exchange with my mother.

Before I could try psyching myself out, a loud crash jostled my thoughts, followed by the sound of breaking glass. My head snapped up from its resting position on my knees, hastily pinpointing the source of the noise. Across the street, a figure had approached the coffee shop and smashed the front door with a baseball bat.

 _Right after a Villain attack?_

It was obvious that the person who decided to raid the store was Quirkless themselves, or at least didn't have a useful power to aid them in their ventures. Having a physical, mass-produced weapon on hand was the first sign of either an amateur or average hoodlum with nothing better to do. That didn't mean they couldn't be dangerous, but in comparison to the dismal state the rest of the city was in, I didn't think someone like Endeavor planned to show up any time soon.

My first instinct was to check if the intruder was within my range, and after confirming that they weren't, I contemplated launching an attack from my position on the roof anyway. A sniper shot with a ball of ice should've been more than enough to incapacitate them, but the reminder that I didn't have my Hero license came rushing to my ears shortly after that.

 _Don't be stupid, Reiko, you're already in trouble._

I could've called for Aizawa-sensei, but it would've probably been more dangerous for everyone on the block if Kaminari was left alone. Todoroki's Quirk was just as flashy as mine, if not more so, and I didn't even know where to look for Bakugou or Kamihara-sensei. In hindsight, Shinsō's mind control would've been the most reliable under the current circumstances had it not been so limited in range.

My legs moved on their own accord and I found myself peering over the ledge of the rooftop, trying to scope out the situation. The Villain (because Quirkless or not, they still served as the antagonist in this plot) grabbed hold of the girl by the window and pointed the bat at her neck. A few feet away stood the young man with his newly brewed cup of joe, his hands stretched out in front of him.

Assuming the attacker didn't have a Quirk, he could have thrown the boiling liquid at them and give the girl a chance to break free. If the first girl came out of the bathroom at that moment, she might have had a chance to launch a surprise attack or make a bad situation even worse. I couldn't see the baristas from where I stood, but they could have called the police or tried talking down the aggressor.

Just because I couldn't help them didn't mean they didn't have options, but no one did anything. I knew exactly why. Could've, should've, would've. It never mattered because Heroes always showed.

 _But what if they didn't make in time?_

The Villain barked out some sort of demand and I shut my eyes because it was all I could do. I couldn't use my Quirk, couldn't ask the others for assistance, couldn't just stand by and watch as they lifted the bat, poised to strike—

 _Please help them._

I was prepared to hear a scream, but the next minute was swathed in nothing but silence. By the time I found the nerve to open my eyes again, the young man was consoling the girl with the novel, and the other girl was back on her phone, this time likely calling the police.

The Villain was nowhere to be found.

"You came."

My voice was just short of a whisper, so much so that I almost didn't hear myself speak. Heels clicked behind me and it took every ounce of common sense I had to convince myself that flinging my body off the side of the building was actually _not_ a better option than turning around.

"Of course I came," she said. "You called, didn't you?"

* * *

It was hard to believe that day had started out like any other day.

I liked Thursdays because it was close enough to the weekend that I could be excited about not having to wake up at an ungodly hour and then spend the next two reading numbers in Calculus. I liked having regular morning chats with Kirishima on the way to class about the weather or our last exam because he made small talk bearable in that he found something worth noting even in the most mundane topics.

I liked listening to Ochako's stories about all the times she'd visit her dad at his construction sites, discussing recipes with Yaoyorozu because along with Iida and Todoroki I was probably the only person in the class who could afford to try the ingredients her family imported from Paris. I liked trying to ease Shinsō into scenes that involved every person in the room and hearing Deku mumble about nothing in particular.

Bakugou was indubitably one of my closest friends, and I liked being able to say that with confidence as much as I liked bickering with him behind Aizawa-sensei's back. I'd stop by the market near my house to buy dog food or a bottle or five of banana milk after school, and I liked having that as part of my routine because it gave me something to look forward to instead of an empty home.

Heavy as they were at times, I liked the satisfaction of bringing the groceries into the kitchen in a single trip, and I liked having conversations with Kan-oji as we put them away since Thursdays were the only days of the week he didn't have any meetings to attend. Even though people expected me to be a cat person, I absolutely treasured dogs, and I liked playing with his puppy while he threw together a simple dinner.

I liked reveling in the warmth of the oven whenever Emi comes to visit just as much as I liked feeling little bursts of cool air each time I grabbed a milk from the fridge. The opposing temperatures reminded me of a certain boy, but I didn't really put much effort into connecting the parallels until fairly recently. Todoroki gradually became another constant in my life, and I admit that I might have liked the thought of that most of all.

My mother was never part of these moments, not as I grew up and definitely not now. I couldn't blame her for doing her job when said job meant saving innocent lives, but even though I understood why she did it, I wasn't as altruistic as I liked to have others believe. Because of that, I never quite forgave her for choosing them over me.

I didn't like being selfish.

But I was.

Maybe that was why her words, the first words she'd said to me alone after weeks of waiting and wilting, made me so angry. I sucked in a breath through my teeth, shaking my head in a terribly poor attempt to calm myself down, but after what I just saw, what I'd been through today, I didn't think it was possible for me to do this without losing it just a little bit.

"You can't just," I stopped, laughing a bit. "You can't say something like that after not being here."

"I'm sorry?" my mother said, affronted.

"You should be."

"Reiko—"

"No, I don't just mean these past few weeks. Even before that, you were never there."

"Perhaps this isn't the time for this conversation," she said stiffly, turning around. The action was familiar, and for a second I was brought back to that day at the Sports Festival.

"I just told you that you were never around for most of my life," I uttered, blinking in disbelief. "And the first thing you do is try to leave?"

"Reiko, please, it's late and there are people sleeping. You need to calm down before—"

"I really don't think you have the right to tell me what to do," I interrupted, taking a step forward. "You didn't have custody of me again until a few hours ago, and even then I had to sign my own liability waiver despite being underage because _you weren't there to do it._ "

"I received a distress call," she said, growing tired of trying to pacify me. "Would you have rather I left those people to die?"

"Don't. Don't pull that card on me. I would never wish that upon anyone. I'm not talking about one or two nights on the job. I'm talking about the twelve birthdays I spent in my room by myself until Emi and Kan-oji managed to stop by after work."

My breath started to catch in my throat, and I couldn't stop myself from spewing all of the pent up frustration I'd held in all this time. "Mom," _I hadn't called her that in so long._ "Mom, I'm fifteen."

Twelve out of fifteen birthdays meant that the only ones she spent actually celebrating with me were my first three. My dad was still with us then, but he wasn't anymore, and neither was she.

"I'm aware of that," she said.

I stared at her. "Are you?"

"I don't know what you want me to say, Reiko," my mother said, sighing and shaking her head in exasperation— _she_ was exasperated. "I'm sorry I haven't been home, but everything I've done until now was in your best interests."

"That doesn't make any sense! I barely had any interests at all because I ended up hating everything you made me do!"

"Those were meant to give you an edge—"

"I don't care about that! I get it! I'd have a better chance at a scholarship if I'm fluent in three languages, if I can play three instruments, if I have my Quirk mastered before starting high school at the most prestigious academy in the country—I get it."

"Then why do you sound so ungrateful?" she asked, and that was just about when I reached my breaking point.

 _Don't cross the line, Reiko._

I didn't listen.

" _Ungrateful?_ " I repeated incredulously. "What have you done that I should be grateful about? The only reason I'm talking to you right now is because one of my friends might _die_ if I don't!"

I had no words to describe the silence that swept through the atmosphere in that moment. It suffocated us in a way that made me feel like I inhaled too much, not too little, and I choked on the oxygen.

"I've spent the past decade trying to make sure you became the very best version of yourself," my mother said quietly, expression hidden by her beloved shadows. "Because I knew that with this job, I might not," she paused to take a breath. "I might not be there to take care of you, and that's why I wanted you to learn how to take care of yourself."

"I was beside myself when your father disappeared. Absolutely devastated. I still am, and I didn't want the same thing to happen to you," I felt the sensation of tears and almost gasped at the realization that they came from her. "I know you're angry. But tell me honestly, Reiko—

My mother exhaled, the hardness in her tone softening into something more serious, more somber.

"Are you sad?"

 _What?_

I didn't say anything for a while. I couldn't. It was a question I'd never been asked before, and I didn't know how to refute it. Saying _I'm fine_ when people asked if I was okay made sense because it was true, to an extent. I was fine. Not great, but fine. I was enduring, surviving.

Sadness was a different story altogether. I could've been sad that my father disappeared, sad that my mother was absent for most of the important moments in my life, sad that a couple of my friends had been hurt in the attack, but like I said, things were getting better. I had more reasons to be happy than I had reason to be sad.

But.

 _I'm…_

 _What if I was sad for no reason? What if I was just sad?_

My legs couldn't take the pressure anymore and I had all but collapsed to the ground. As she brought a hand to her mouth, I wondered if my mother would let me wallow on my own, but then she came rushing forward. For the first time in years, I felt my mom wrap her arms around me because she was there and wanted to be there, and that broke the dam.

"I don't know," I whispered, pressing my palms against my eyes. "I don't know. I have friends who have been through so much—"

Ochako growing up watching her parents work overtime just to make sure their family wasn't evicted. Deku getting bullied back when he used to be Quirkless. Bakugou and the guilt he carried along with the emotional turmoil that constantly stormed through him, misunderstood by everyone. Todoroki's scar as a tangible representation of his pain. Like my mother said herself, people were out there _dying_ —

To my surprise, I let out a sob.

"I didn't care that you had to leave," I cried, burying my face into my knees. Her fingers tangled themselves in my hair and the realization that such a simple gesture felt frighteningly foreign made me whimper. "I cared that the times you were home, all I seemed to do was disappoint you."

My mother shook her head, furiously and for the umpteenth time. "You've been so strong, Reiko. My daughter," I felt my throat hitch. "This was never your burden. It was mine from the start and yet I—"

"I just wanted you to be proud of me," lines marked the skin where my fingers curled around my arms. "I wanted you to like me. I never said anything because I thought I was just being dramatic, that there really was something broken—"

"I'm sorry, Reiko. I'm so sorry."

"No, I'm sorry I wasn't good enough to make you stay."

"You are the best thing that happened to me," my mother murmured, her voice wavering and then breaking completely as she cried with me. "I love you so much, but I didn't—I don't know how to tell you that because I'm so afraid I'd never be able to convey just how _much_ I—"

"I think," I choked on my words or maybe my tears, deflating into myself. "I think I've been sad for a long time, Mama."

In the midst of all this, I remembered something important. I realized that I like to watch people because I didn't like what I saw in the mirror or what I heard inside my head. I used to read every fairytale I could lay my hands on online, at school, at the library. The worlds in those stories helped me escape from reality, and I meant that deliberately because I looked back at a childhood that consisted of empty rooms inside a dusty house.

It was satisfying no matter what because at least there was always an ending. Mine didn't, and that got me thinking. I would have to say goodbye to all of this someday, maybe disappear without a trace like my mother did so often and my father before I could make at least one person happy then I'd done my part, or at least a part, and that should be enough, but sometimes l couldn't help wonder if I deserved to be remembered like that.

Who would miss me when I was called and no one was there?

* * *

Vincent Van Gogh once said, "I am unable to describe exactly what is the matter with me; now and then there are horrible fits of anxiety, apparently without cause, or otherwise a feeling of emptiness and fatigue in the head."

My mother held me tighter.

I grasped the back of her shirt and wept.

* * *

Exactly two hours later, Kaminari was reported to be in stable condition. He passed out shortly after discharging all of the excess electricity stored in his body, but my mother had him back in the safety of his hospital bed before he even hit the nonexistent floor. The traces of Trigger found in his system almost completely flushed out and Recovery Girl would be back in the morning to tie up any loose ends.

Iida wasn't taking any visitors yet, but Aizawa-sensei assured us that his surgery was a success. It was almost three in the morning by the time Todoroki, Bakugou, Shinsō, and I found out. The latter was already half-asleep, ready to retire to the room the hospital had provided for him when my mother suddenly intervened.

"Why don't you stay with us?"

There was a sense of serenity in the moments after our tête-à-tête on the rooftop. I was too exhausted to feel angry, and I was still sad, but I felt a sort of contentment that I hadn't in a long time. The shift in our relationship from that point was palpable, and though I didn't have the energy to think much of it then, I could tell my mom wanted to make it a good one.

But this?

I couldn't tell if it was her way of trying to help or if she'd really lost her mind. The offer extended to each of the boys properly discharged, and to say it took them by surprise would've been an understatement. In truth, I was probably the most bewildered.

"What?" I uttered lamely.

With four guest rooms in addition to mine and the one my parents used to share, our house had more than enough space for a little extra company, but I couldn't fathom the thought of having my friends actually stay the night. I had never even invited anyone over during the daytime.

"It's only one night, Reiko," she said.

Unlike multiple times in the past, I didn't feel like she was berating me when she spoke. My head spun at the thought. As much as I appreciated her efforts, I needed a little while to get used to it.

"That's a great idea!" Kamihara-sensei said, clapping Bakugou on the back.

The blond gave him a mild, mostly tired glare. "You just don't want to get stuck babysitting."

"I hope you're not expecting me to deny that," Kamihara-sensei said, saluting him and then me. "I'll stop by in the morning to get you two. Thanks for taking them, Kamino."

And then he disappeared.

"Does he do that a lot?" Shinsō asked, raising a brow.

I let out a sigh, nodding glumly. "He left us stranded on an island once because he forgot to pick up his takeout."

"It wasn't even that good," Bakugou scoffed, crossing his arms. "What a waste of fuc—frick—damn resources."

My mother shot him a glance and it seemed to take all of his willpower not to blow himself up on the spot. I would've liked to watch him squirm just a bit longer, but it was getting abhorrently late and all of us ran on empty.

"There are enough rooms for each of you to get your own," I said, accepting my defeat. "We have three bathrooms, too, so don't worry about having to race to the toilet."

"You don't need to go through all that trouble," Todoroki said, shaking his head.

"You're not going home with your father?"

"Do you want me to?"

"I mean, no."

"Then no," Todoroki shrugged, and I blinked at him, startled but satisfied.

"Half and half is right," Bakugou said, lazily rolling his eyes. "Dump us on the couch for all I care. I bet fucking rich people— _shit_ , I mean—"

I pursed my lips to squash the smirk that was surely soon to surface and motioned for him to exit the lobby first. Bakugou let out a huff that was as close to an embarrassed groan as he could manage and dragged his feet toward the car waiting outside, all the while avoiding eye contact with my mother. Shinsō followed him, taking the backseat on the driver's side while the blond sat in the middle, arms crossed.

It would've been quicker to use her Quirk, but my mother didn't want to risk it, and despite our peace treaty, I agreed wholeheartedly. I took a moment to glance at her exchanging a few words with Aizawa-sensei. If I was being honest, I was afraid that I'd wake up in the morning to find that she wasn't there or anywhere, maybe worse of all of this might've turned out to be another dream.

But it happened on a Thursday, and I'd like to believe it was true.

I wasn't looking at him, but I felt Todoroki staring at me. My eyes were still a bit blotchy from bawling for at least an hour straight, but I banked on blaming my lack of sleep if anyone decided to ask about it. I should've remembered that he was the exception to a lot of things.

"You cried," Todoroki said.

I expected why or what happened or _are you okay_. As much as I didn't feel like explaining, I understood why people gravitated towards that first. The person in question would almost always respond with the traditional _I'm fine_ , which would then end the conversation and save whoever asked the responsibility of listening or, God forbid, actually care about the small stuff.

But.

"Did it help?"

 _Todoroki was the exception to a lot of things._

I looked up at him, blinking blearily as I tried to process his words. The fluorescent hospital lights and stillness of the night muted the saturation of his eyes, but they remained familiar, and I was indulgently grateful for that.

"Yeah, it did."

* * *

 **[3:27 AM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _I hope this doesn't wake you, but I know you wanted me to tell you when everything settled down. We finally left the hospital a little while ago. Feel free to reply in the morning._

 **[3:27 AM] Yaoyorozu Momo**

 _It's good to hear from you, Higuchi-san. Truthfully, I've been so worried I haven't been able to sleep. How is everyone?_

 **[3:28 AM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _Kaminari is in stable condition and Iida's surgery was a success. Everyone else is healthy and healing. My mother invited them to spend the night at my place and we just arrived a few minutes ago._

 **[3:28 AM] Yaoyorozu Momo**

 _Them?_

 **[3:28 AM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _Shinsō, Bakugou, Todoroki._

 **Yaoyorozu Momo is typing…**

…

…

 **[3:31 AM] Yaoyorozu Momo**

 _Your mother allowed that?_

 **[3:32 AM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _I was surprised, too, but I suppose she doesn't have much of a reason to be suspicious. Todoroki and Shinsō have been nothing but polite and Bakugou is… trying… his best…_

 **[3:33 AM] Yaoyorozu Momo**

 _Is everything alright then?_

 **[3:33 AM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _Yup._

 **Higuchi Reiko is typing…**

 **[3:33 AM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _Thanks for asking._

 **[3:33 AM] Yaoyorozu Momo**

 _Please let me know if there's anything you need._

 **Higuchi Reiko is typing…**

 **[3:34 AM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _I do have one favor I've been meaning to ask._

 **[3:35 AM] Yaoyorozu Momo**

 _Of course._

 **[3:36 AM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _You're more than welcome to refuse if it makes you uncomfortable, but if you don't mind…_

 **Higuchi Reiko is typing…**

…

 **[3:36 AM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _From now on, will you call me Rei?_

 **Yaoyorozu Momo is typing…**

* * *

 **[3:31 AM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _i mean sure kaminari almost died but_

 **[3:31 AM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _that can't be worse than bakugou sleeping over right_

 **[3:31 AM] Kirishima Ejirō**

 _Lol_

 **[3:32 AM] Kirishima Ejirō**

 _wait ur not serious_

 **[3:32 AM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _kill me_

 **Kirishima Ejirō is typing…**

 **[3:33 AM] Kirishima Ejirō**

 _oh_

 **[3:33 AM] Kirishima Ejirō**

 _i mean how bad could it be_

 **[3:34 AM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _maybe not as bad if they weren't here_

 **[3:34 AM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _at the same time_

 **[3:35 AM] Kirishima Ejirō**

 _what_

 **[3:35 AM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _todoroki and shinso are staying the night too_

 **[3:36 AM] Kirishima Ejirō**

 _whaaaat_

 **[3:36 AM] Kirishima Ejirō**

 _tfti!_

 **Higuchi Reiko is typing…**

…

 **[3:37 AM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _i did NOT plan this_

 **[3:37 AM] Kirishima Ejirō**

 _uhh well look at the bright side_

 **[3:37 AM] Kirishima Ejirō**

 _youre pretty close to bakugou and todoroki?_

 **[3:38 AM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _ok but they're barely friends_

 **[3:38 AM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _seriously_

 **[3:38 AM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _if i hear the words icy hot 1 more time_

 **Bakugou Katsuki has been added to the conversation.**

 **Bakugou Katsuki is typing…**

…

 **[3:41 AM] Bakugou Katsuki**

 _finish that fucking sentence_

 **Higuchi Reiko is typing…**

…

 **[3:42 AM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _kirishima….._

 **[3:43 AM] Kirishima Ejirō**

 _(*•̀ᴗ•́*)_ _و_ _̑̑_

* * *

 **[3:29 AM] Midoriya Izuku**

 _ahhh i'm glad you're okay! ˭̡̞(◞⁎˃_ _ᆺ_ _˂)◞*✰_

 **[3:30 AM] Uraraka Ochako**

 _are you really sleeping over at rei's house todoroki-kun? uwu_

 **[3:31 AM] Todoroki Shouto**

 _Yes._

 **[3:31 AM] Uraraka Ochako**

 _does that mean you're texting us while sitting next to each other_

 **[3:31 AM] Uraraka Ochako**

 _(•̀ᴗ•́)_ _൬༉_

 **[3:31 AM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _no_

 **Higuchi Reiko is typing…**

…

 **[3:32 AM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _[A pot of steaming ramen sits at the center of the table. Todoroki glances down at his phone across from where Reiko took the photo. A glimpse of spiky blond hair can be seen in frame right beside him, unmistakably Bakugou.]_

 **[3:33 AM] Midoriya Izuku**

 _?_

 **[3:33 AM] Uraraka Ochako**

 _is that_

 **[3:33 AM] Midoriya Izuku**

 _KACCHAN? (_ _๑_ _ʘ∆ʘ_ _๑_ _)_

 **[3:33 AM] Uraraka Ochako**

 _BAKUGOU-KUN? (⊙△⊙✿)_

 **[3:34 AM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _shinso is here too_

 **[3:34 AM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _but he was smart and already went to bed_

 **Todoroki Shouto is typing…**

 _ **[3:35 AM] Todoroki Shouto**_

 _What's uwu?_

 _ **[3:36 AM] Todoroki Shouto**_

 _Nevermind._

 **[3:37 AM] Uraraka Ochako**

 _?_

 _ **[3:37 AM] Todoroki Shouto**_

 _Higuchi explained it to me just now._

 **Todoroki Shouto is typing…**

…

 **[3:38 AM] Todoroki Shouto**

 _[Reiko beams at her phone, pointedly ignoring the pair of chopsticks aimed at her face, also unmistakably belonging to Bakugou.]_

 _ **[3:38 AM] Todoroki Shouto**_

 _She's talking to Yaoyorozu, if you're wondering._

 **Higuchi Reiko is typing…**

 **[3:38 AM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _and kirishima_

 **Midoriya Izuku is typing…**

…

 **[3:39 AM] Midoriya Izuku**

 _is kaminari-kun there too? (_ _・・。_ _)_ _ゞ_

 **[3:39 AM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _recovery girl needs to do a final check up so he's still at the hospital_

 **[3:40 AM] Uraraka Ochako**

 _aww i wish i could've slept over_

 **[3:40 AM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _you're more than welcome to another day ochako_

 **[3:40 AM] Uraraka Ochako**

 _YAY_ _ヾ_ _(_ _๑❛ ▿ ◠๑_ _)_

 **Bakugou Katsuki has been added to the conversation.**

 **Bakugou Katsuki has left the conversation.**

 **Bakugou Katsuki has been added to the conversation.**

 **[3:43 AM] Bakugou Katsuki**

 _fuck off_

 **Higuchi Reiko is typing…**

…

 **[3:43 AM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _help me_

 **[3:44 AM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _[A blurry Bakugou lunges at Reiko.]_

 **Midoriya Izuku is typing…**

…

 **[3:39 AM] Midoriya Izuku**

 _is everything okay? ;;_ _（・□・；）_

 **Bakugou Katsuki is typing…**

…

 **[3:44 AM] Bakugou Katsuki**

 _(_ _ノ_ _ಠ_ _益_ _ಠ_ _)_ _ノ彡┻━┻_

 **Bakugou Katsuki left the chat.**

 **[3:47 AM] Todoroki Shouto**

┬──┬◡ _ﾉ_ _(_ _ー_ ___ _ー ﾉ_ _)_

* * *

The sunlight sifted through the trees outside my bedroom, marking shapes of shadows on the sheets strewn over myself. I didn't mind breezy summer nights as much as I did the humid days, but that morning felt like more of a dream than any of the surreal happenings that had occurred in the past few days, and for the first time in a long time, I looked forward to waking up.

"You're lookin' like shit."

I opened a single eye and found Bakugou standing in front of me dressed for the day. His hair was completely dry and since I doubted he knew how to use a hair dryer, I figured he must have woken up significantly earlier than I did, though one look at the oversized shirt and pajamas I still had on would've said as much. I might have looked forward to waking up this morning, but it was still morning, and I was still not a morning person.

"Do I need to remind you whose house this is?" I muttered, stifling a yawn as I made my way down the staircase.

Bakugou followed behind me, footsteps muted against the carpet. "Fucking rich people."

"How'd you sleep?" I asked, pulling my phone out from my pocket. 10:17AM. "I didn't expect to get in more than a few hours, but I think a little over six is doable."

As soon as I touched down on the last step, I pivoted into the hallway winding into the kitchen. I recalled having nothing in the fridge save for a box of eggs and banana milk, but we had half a loaf of bread and some kind of hazelnut spread on top of that. Bakugou frowned, brows furrowed as I took out a slice.

"It was okay," he muttered.

"Just okay?"

"The damn mattress was soft as hell," Bakugou spit out, throwing his head back in irritation and incredulity. "What the fuck is up with that?"

"Fucking rich people," I quoted him, nodding in agreement as I grabbed a butter knife from a compartment attached to the kitchen island.

He rolled his eyes and rested his cheek on his knuckles. "Why are you eating that?"

"Because I'm hungry?"

"Then eat the fucking food at the table, dipshit."

I paused just as I was about to open the jar of hazelnut spread and pretty much stopped dead in my tracks at the sight before me. At least a dozen kinds of dishes sat on the dining table. Miso soup and okayu sat at the center surrounded by some less traditional plates like pancakes and scrambled eggs, and everything from natto, ume boshi, and pickled daikon scattered in the spaces in between.

Shinsō popped his head in from the next room, his mouth curled into his signature smirk. As he plopped down on a vacant seat, I stared at him and then at Bakugou, now sitting down across from him.

"I was worried Blondie wouldn't finish making everything in time," Shinsō said, looking at the blond in question.

"Bakugou cooked all of this?"

"Consider it payment," Bakugou grumbled, his expression scrunched into a scowl though without much intent. "It was the icy hot bastard's idea."

"Where did you even get the ingredients?" I asked, blinking in disbelief. "I could've sworn we didn't have most of this stuff."

Bakugou snorted, rolling his eyes. "You had jack shit."

"We went to the market this morning to pick up a few things."

 _Speak of the devil._

Todoroki suddenly stood beside me, his hands shoved lazily into the pockets of his joggers and his hair still a bit damp. If he had just gotten out of the shower, but had time to go to the market, have Bakugou make breakfast, clean the kitchen—

"What time did all of you wake up?" I asked, frowning.

Shinsō peered at the clock above my head. "Four hours ago, more or less."

"What? You guys barely slept—"

"Just say thank you like a normal person," Todoroki said, his eyes glimmering with something that I came to recognize as his way of teasing.

I blatantly ignored the stirring in my chest and gaped at him, still dazed. Bakugou let out something between a scoff and a sigh. I could tell my astonishment made him particularly uncomfortable, but even I didn't know if I would ever recover from the shock of this event.

"Thank you for preparing our breakfast, everyone."

My muscles stiffened as a fifth person slipped past me, pulling out an empty chair. The two boys at the table stood to greet the figure with clumsy bows, and beside me, Todoroki mirrored their movements. I sucked in a breath as my mother looked over at me next, her crimson eyes meeting my own.

"Good morning, Reiko," she said.

I stared at her. I stared at Bakugou and Shinsō and lastly, I stared at Todoroki. It'd been a long time since I had this many people in my home. To hear that they went out of their way to do something as thoughtful as this, to see my mom actually sitting in our kitchen about to have breakfast with me—

"Good morning."

My cheeks swelled with a sheepish, saccharine smile.

* * *

 **postscript**

everything pertaining to the chapter is in the postscript because i have a lot to say and periods make it hard to reveal my stream of consciousness in its entirety. i just wanted to use this space specifically to thank everyone who's supported this story whether you've been here from the very beginning or twelve minutes ago or maybe even as you're reading this right now. to be honest, i didn't think i'd make it past the first chapter when i first posted this almost a year ago, and i certainly didn't expect to have as many people read and care about it as much as they do.

i understand that not everyone has the time to leave a review or comment so the fact that i've managed to have as many conversations as i have with those who did is absolutely astounding to me. Words are just words and to have people care about mine—i hope you know that the reason i'm not afraid to ask for reviews and comments in each chapter in the first place is because i don't want them for the recognition or the compliments, but because i care about yours just as much.

that said, i also understand that not everyone expresses their support in the same ways. just as incredible are those who take the time to add this to their favorites or follows, who remember to check for an update because they might not have an account, who read each new chapter and allow rei and myself to be a small part of your lives. you have not a single obligation to this story, but despite that, _human shaped constellation_ has received so much love, and i appreciate it more than i know how to express.

as always—

thank you so much for reading.

* * *

welcome 2 my post postscript

probably not the best idea to post it at 5 in the morning but i'll edit any mistakes later lulz follow me on tumblr at jngsjngs for real time updates

 _anyway_

i lowkey cried writing this chapter lol by no means does rei have her happy ending at this point but she _is_ starting a new beginning and in a lot of ways i think there's something a little more emotional and hopeful about that

this was very rei centric for that reason (i was supposed to introduce the second ova in this one but it broke the flow which is why i had to split them up nbd tho) every pov in this chapter was hers and i did that deliberately to highlight the juxtaposition between all the things that make her happy and the sudden revelation that she is and has been in fact struggling with anxiety and depression for the past few years

the scene with mikoto was originally written much differently and much later in the story, but the more i thought about it the more i decided that a conversation like that could never be planned and so i let myself write whatever words came to mind and this was the end result. it's based (loosely but apparently still enough to make me bawl at like four in the morning when i wrote it) on the first time i told my mom about my own struggles

that said, i feel like one of the concerns people might have is that rei is back to smiling with her friends just hours later and has seemingly forgiven her mother for everything she did (or didn't do) but that's really not the case. speaking from personal experience, realizing you have some sort of mental health condition and admitting to it and accepting it are different things and each requires falling apart and picking yourself back up time and time again

you have to remember that none of her friends explicitly know about her anxiety or depression; they can speculate and they might have their suspicions, but rei hasn't told them about it albeit having just fully realized it herself, and as seen in the first half of this chapter she has no intentions of telling them (at this point in her life or ever, if she has it her way)

in many ways, rei is simultaneously trying to get closer to her friends and keep herself at a distance. she wants to build and better her relationships with them (asking yaoyorozu to drop honorifics, for example, was a big step in their friendship) because she acknowledges that they make her happy but doesn't want to burden them with her issues, so even though she's smiling more and laughing louder, she's pretty adamant about keeping the darker parts of herself locked up. that is definitely not the way to go about it, but rei still has a lot to learn, and that's okay. she's willing to try.

i just want you to know first and foremost that i'm writing this to shed light on something i hold very near to my heart. people have different experiences with mental illness and this is just based on mine, but i'm hoping that by opening up a conversation through this story, it can, to some extent, resonate with someone, anyone who might feel even remotely the same way.

this isn't a novel about how absolutely terrible it is (despite the fact that it does, in fact, _suck_ ), nor does it romanticize the struggle. it is not something that defines rei, but it is something that is very much a part of who she is, and as a result, it _will_ be part of her story. i hope she and i can provide some semblance of comfort and community as you continue to write yours.

thanks for everything.

i am so grateful for you all.


	20. East Side

No copyright infringement intended.

* * *

—

 **X. East Side**

—

* * *

I woke up on Monday morning to my phone blaring incessantly on my bedside table. The sound differed from the ringtone I used for my alarm, indicating I received a call, but I had no intention of waking up earlier than I had to after a week of nonstop training and a few life or death situations sprinkled in between. Turning onto my stomach, I nestled my cheek into the threads of my pillow and blocked out the noise with sheer will, a feat I considered more impressive than even the more notable achievements in my life.

" _Wake the fuck up, Guppy."_

With a jolt, I slammed my forehead against the wooden headboard, half-expecting an explosion ready to blow in my face, but I saw no blond in sight. Mustering the energy to look over at my phone, I noticed that the call had been miraculously picked up and set on speaker. Though I didn't have to look at the caller ID to know spoke on the other line, I wasn't particularly eager to speak to him after he'd inadvertently caused the throbbing above my nose.

"Why're you calling me so early?" I grumbled, sluggishly rubbing my eyes. Mom constantly tells me not to do that, but I had a few bad habits and this always felt like one of the harder to quit, and it only became more difficult the longer she wasn't around to berate me for it. "How'd it even go through?"

" _You're slurring your damn words. Piss shit had to hack your stupid phone since you didn't fucking answer."_

I could've sworn I heard a snort of laughter, but it definitely didn't come from Bakugou, and I couldn't be bothered to guess while still half-asleep. My voice dipped in my grogginess, forcing me to clear my throat with a cough.

"Isn't that illegal?"

" _Not if you don't get caught!"_

"Hey, Kaminari, I'm glad you're not dead."

" _Thanks, Rei,"_ he chortled. " _I'd really appreciate it if you didn't call the police."_

"For the invasion of my privacy," I stifled a yawn, squinting from the sunlight that filtered through the blinds. "I would never, but I think waking people up at such ungodly hours deserves a punishable offense."

I heard another round of giggles in the background that didn't sound like either of the blonds and couldn't help but add, "Am I on speaker?"

" _Yeah, sorry, it was the only way I could connect the call. If you shut down your Bluetooth, though, Bakugou's should turn off at the same time."_

"I don't mind," I said, glancing at the time and frowning at the extra half an hour of sleep I could've had. "Why did you say you called again?"

" _Blondie never actually told you,"_ Shinsō, I recognized through my drowsiness. " _Yūei invited guests from a few other schools for some kind of joint training exercise. Our community service has turned into showing them around."_

I perked up at the new information presented to me and sat up straight, clumsily snatching my phone in the process. Aizawa-sensei already postponed the community service we'd been granted in place of proper punishment for our participation in the Villain attacks to after school today instead of yesterday morning as originally planned. If that had been revoked as well, the schools coming to visit must've taken precedence over the need to discipline us, which implied that they likely stood on par with Yūei in terms of prestige.

"Which schools?" I asked.

Taking my uniform down from the hook on the back of my door, I waltz into the bathroom across the hall and pressed mute on my end of the call before swiftly getting ready.

" _Isamu Academy and Shiketsu High,"_ Kirishima replied, his excitement bubbling. " _Can you believe it? Aizawa-sensei said there'll be three students from each school acting as their representatives!"_

My fingers worked on tucking my shirt into my skirt as I pondered over the names. Isamu Academy entered the map relatively recently, climbing in ranks as one of the top Hero institutions in the nation. Shiketsu High comfortably sat in a class of its own, rivaling Yūei in just about every respect aside from the fact that the Number One Hero taught at our school. I understood the need to accommodate them.

"Is everyone else already there?" I asked, fastening the red necktie around my collar after unmuting the call.

" _Almost,"_ Ochako chirped. " _You, Deku-kun, and Todoroki-kun are the only ones left, but I just called Deku-kun. He should be here any minute now!"_

"Do you want me to call Todoroki?"

" _It's okay, Yaoyorozu-chan is on the phone with him now. Aizawa-sensei wants us all here a little earlier than the rest of the class."_

"Oh," I looked up to see my reflection with a small frown and blinked, startled, until the brunette laughed.

" _You must be a really deep sleeper, huh, Rei? We all took turns calling you until Kaminari-kun eventually had to use his Quirk, you know!"_

Bakugou scoffed loudly, as if he wanted to make sure I heard it. " _Bet she just straight up ignored them."_

" _I wasn't talking to you."_

" _Fucking—"_

"I'm on my way," I said, pulling moisture from the air to tame the frizz in my hair. "See you guys soon."

I stuffed my phone into my pocket before he could protest and dashed down the stairs, grabbing my backpack from where I always left it on the couch. Slinging the strap over my shoulder, I stopped by the kitchen to pick up a carton of banana milk when I noticed a bright pink sticky note on our refrigerator door—not that I could've missed it since everything else in the room was a palette of neutral colors and cool tones.

As I walked closer, I read the words written in a font that looked just as beautiful as my own cursive.

 _Don't drink milk on an empty stomach. I've placed a few packs of senbei in the outside compartment of your bag just in case. See you when we both get home._

 _Love,_

 _Mama_

Despite knowing I was almost late, I couldn't bring myself to move from my spot. The message was simple and I was sure that kids all over the world heard something similar from their parents all the time, but I was never one of those children, and my mom was never that kind of parent.

Maybe that was why my hands seemed to move on their own accord, suddenly unzipping the compartment on my backpack. I expected the worst, but I felt the familiar outline of the rice crackers tucked inside, and it took all that I had not to gasp out loud.

 _Is this… what it's like…_

* * *

I was a good twenty minute walk away from campus when Ochako texted me saying I had to get to class in ten. It wouldn't have been an issue if I had the authority to speed up using my Quirk, but without a provisional license, I was just a mere civilian hoping her homeroom teacher wouldn't notice her absurd amount of tardies. Despite my general dislike for unnecessary physical exertion, it's said that desperate times call for desperate measures, and that, in addition to my fear of Aizawa-sensei, convinced me enough to make a run for it.

Defeating Villains required a decent amount of cardio in its own right. Kamihara-sensei helped improve my stamina by about double my previous limit, but I still couldn't fathom running for the sake of running, and doing it so early in the morning worsened the burning in my lungs tenfold. I made it down the hall from our classroom before I had to stop and catch my breath, clutching my shirt as an embarrassingly searing ache shot through my chest.

"Should I call for help?"

I almost didn't turn around if only because I had no reason to look behind me. At this point, I wondered if my Quirk possessed an unknown characteristic that allowed me to sense him before I could tell that someone stood next to me in the first place. Or maybe the fact that I thought of him so frequently these days turned into somehow summoned his presence.

"I could've died in the time it took you to ask that," I said, looking up at the boy standing about a foot away from me.

Todoroki didn't even bat an eye. "Your jokes are almost as impressive as your streak of tardies."

"I hope Aizawa-sensei finds it in his heart not to mention that to my mom," I mumbled, letting out a huff of exhaustion and exasperation. "Not my fault no one woke me up earlier."

"I heard they tried calling you nine times."

"You can't prove that."

"Yaoyorozu told me, and if I had to pick the least likely person in this school to tell a lie, we both know it would be her."

A prickly feeling coursed through my veins when he uttered Momo's name. I learned a lot about myself during our week of internships, and that allowed me to admit that though I didn't consider myself a self-loathing person by nature, I had grown to dislike facets of my personality over a gradual amount of time. It didn't occur to me the first time it happened since I had just woken up, but I was awake enough now to recognize that jealousy fed on such insecurities, and jealous and insecure was exactly what I was.

My envy didn't manifest as a possessiveness over Todoroki or unwarranted dislike towards any individual that looked his way. The more I thought about it, the more I confident I felt that I didn't mind if he talked to Momo, especially not when I considered them two of my closest friends. No, it presented itself in the form of whispers in my mind telling me that I wasn't good enough, and that someone would always be better, not just for him, but in every sense of the word.

"I trust Momo not to aid you in tarnishing my reputation," I said, reeling in any negative feelings committed to surfacing.

Todoroki didn't respond, and for a moment he didn't say anything at all, but I had long since grown accustomed to his bouts of silence. I left him with his thoughts for a minute and expertly spurned mine until he spoke again.

"You called Yaoyorozu by her first name just now, and earlier this morning she called you," Todoroki said, hesitating. "Rei."

In spite of my petty inner turmoil, the corners of my mouth curved into a satisfied smile. "I didn't expect her to agree."

"What do you mean?"

"I asked her for a favor," I said, sparing him another glance from my peripheral. "It's kind of lame on my part, but that was it."

I could admit that I was jealous of Momo from the very beginning. The day of the apprehension test, I was disappointed because she placed first while I ranked below someone I accidentally called _Bakagou_. Though I also knew my friends better now and would've just as easily admitted that I deeply respected and admired her and the blond, I couldn't help but feel like I was somehow ten steps behind her. And him. And Todoroki.

"Should I call you," Todoroki hesitated again, and I started to wonder if something about my nickname made it particularly difficult for him to pronounce. "That, too?"

"No need to hurt yourself."

Todoroki shook his head, this time rather adamantly. "It's not what you think. I was just curious if you preferred it over your surname."

"Do you have a preference about what people call you?"

"Not particularly."

"You picked Shouto as your Hero name for a reason."

It might not have been the best time to initiate a potentially deeper subject that seemed strangely significant under the surface since we didn't have much time in general, but I had a feeling Todoroki didn't trail off into silence for no reason and tried to fill the holes in the conversation for him.

"Todoroki is an important name," he said, averting his eyes to his shoes. "I've accepted it as part of my identity because I had no other choice, but if it were up to me, people wouldn't see me simply as Endeavor's son."

"You don't want to be a better version of your father, but the best version of yourself."

Todoroki looked up at me in surprise and slowly settled into the expression as if he should've expected as much. I stared at him knowingly, perhaps all too well. The two of us shared such similar stories when it came to family, but none felt better or worse, not even entirely the same. I thought of them more like asymptotes coursing on a continuous line, approaching a curve without actually meeting at any finite distance.

His troubles sounded familiar to a precise degree, but he dealt with them in ways I sometimes couldn't fathom. Todoroki learned to significantly humble himself now in comparison to the first few weeks I'd known him, but he still possessed a remote level of arrogance, which, combined with his tendency to be solitary and sort of aloof, often made him take the initiative without considering the opinion of others. I, on the other hand, cared too much about what people thought of me.

The urge to improve because you wanted to be better than you were yesterday had the potential to be overwhelming. It was an ineffable appetite that could only be quelled by results, and those results had the chance to turn into repercussions if you weren't careful about how to achieve them. Todoroki learned that the hard way when he tried to depend solely on his ice. Left untouched, his flames might've turned into a conflagration that swallowed him whole.

I learned that the hard way when I tried to shoulder my burdens and everyone else's on my own. The difference was that he strived to release the weight he carried, and I grew more aware of the load I kept adding onto mine. Todoroki didn't know what it felt like to hate himself. I couldn't blame him for that, because doing so would mean I wished it upon him, and I'd never wish that feeling on anyone.

"I don't care either what people call me either," I said, lips quirking at his curious stare. "I just ask people to call me Rei because it's the part of me they can relate to the most, and that somehow makes the whole becoming friends thing a lot easier."

"I don't get it."

"Do you think we'd have genuine conversations if you started calling me Rei?"

"We already have those," Todoroki pointed out.

"We do," I agreed. "I never asked you to call me that because you just didn't seem like the type to use it, but the more we got to know each other, the more I realized you never needed that crutch in the first place."

"Do you always have to talk in metaphors?" Todoroki asked, shaking his head when I frowned. "Let me rephrase that. What do you want me to call you?"

"That was a totally different question."

"That wasn't an answer."

"I don't talk in metaphors all the time," I mumbled. "And didn't you just say it wouldn't change how we talk to each other? If it's any consolation—"

I wavered a bit, tempted to stall, but Todoroki was waiting, and I wanted to be honest.

"I like the way things are now."

My parents taught me at a young age not to criticize people for things they couldn't change about themselves. I'd like to believe I held that standard to this day, but I came to realize that I never really applied that wisdom to myself. All I could think about was how Momo was smarter than me, Ochako was kinder than me, each of the girls in our class more interesting than me in some way. I didn't want to have those thoughts about people I treasured so much as friends. More than that, I didn't want to think that about myself.

That was precisely why I couldn't entertain the thought of being in a relationship. I'd be stuck comparing myself to other people, even comparing myself to Todoroki, and I'd feel so beneath them all that I'd lose any motivation to do better and be better. As much as I disliked the bits and pieces of me that had been influenced by bouts of depression and anxiety, or perhaps especially because of it, I didn't want to be sad forever. First and foremost, I wanted to be happy with myself.

But—

Todoroki looked up at the ceiling in thought, and then nodded firmly, resolutely.

"Me, too."

—the sharper end of this double-edged sword was that Todoroki had a way of making me happier than I'd been in a long time.

"I'm going to change the subject now," I said, ignoring the sudden warmth unfurling beneath my skin. "Thanks again for what you guys did the other day."

"You started out not being able to say thank you at all," Todoroki said, smiling a bit. "And now you can't seem to stop saying it."

I stared at him straight-faced. "I am a very grateful person."

"I believe that."

"But?"

"What makes you think there's a 'but'?"

"I've learned a lot here," I said, motioning to the walls around me. I counted plenty of times over the course of the semester when Yūei felt more like home than my actual house. "But until a couple of months ago, I didn't feel like ever going to school."

"Most people wouldn't be so opposed to attending one of the top academies in the world."

"Would it be cliché to say you wouldn't understand?"

"Yes."

"Well, that's that."

"You can always explain it."

"I've come to realize that words very rarely do justice to emotions."

"You don't think I feel the same," Todoroki guessed, nodding in comprehension more so to himself. The double entendre to his statement made me chuckle a bit. "How would you attempt to convey your feelings to someone without using words?"

The two of us stopped in front of the Class 1-A doors. Todoroki stared at me expectantly like I had the answer to a question he couldn't seem to grasp, but I needed to think about it myself. Everyone had a different love language. Words of affirmation was one of them, but there was also receiving gifts, acts of service, quality time, and physical touch.

"I wonder," I murmured.

I looked at Todoroki and couldn't help but think this was one of those questions we didn't need answered. I saw the ocean and the stars in his eyes, and that didn't fall into any particular category, but it still felt like I—

* * *

 _"Why are you telling me this?"_

 _"You needed to hear it."_

 _"Hear what?"_

 _A surge of panic struck me when seconds passed and I had yet to receive a reply. I was afraid that he stood and left, but then he exhaled as if to remind me that he was still there, and the next thing that hit me was relief and the sudden realization that I was thankful to sit here with him._

 _"You've worked hard and done well," Todoroki said. "If it's what you want, Higuchi, you can rest for a while."_

* * *

 _"Here," Todoroki said, holding out a closed fist._

 _"What?"_

 _"Take it."_

 _His fingers ghosted mine as I felt him drop something into my palm, and like a broken clock, I marveled at the warmth, and then at the object he gave me, blinking rapidly in genuine surprise._

 _"I asked Yaoyorozu to make one earlier," Todoroki said, shrugging. "Thought it would help you get into character."_

 _The warmth I felt no longer came from a tangible source. Heat dispersed beneath the expanse of my skin, an unfamiliar yet not unpleasant light flickering in my chest. I clutched the elastic band, a vibrant violet that dazzled beneath the sun, and breathed out a real laugh._

* * *

 _"This sucks," Ochako said, her lips curling into a pout. "I hope we can sit together again, Rei."_

 _"Is it really such a big deal?" Todoroki asked, brows furrowed. "It's not like we're switching classes or anything."_

 _Ochako turned to him, her expression looking impressively reminiscent of a kicked puppy. "You're not going to miss her, Todoroki-kun?"_

 _I nudged his side, distinctly aware of Ashido and Kaminari listening in on our conversation from a few feet away. Todoroki blinked at me and then looked back at Ochako, shrugging his shoulders as his lips quirked the slightest bit._

 _"I'll sit with her at lunch," Todoroki said, glancing at me again from the corner of his turquoise eye. "Right?"_

* * *

 _Todoroki held out his left hand, his palm facing the ceiling. I stared at it for a second, and then two, and then three._

 _"Well?"_

 _"'Well,' what?"_

 _"You're cold," Todoroki said._

 _"A little," I said, unable to tear my eyes away from his trembling fingers. "Are you sure?"_

 _As much as I wanted to take this chance to understand him a little more, I didn't want him to feel like he had some kind of obligation to let me in. His eyes looked stormier than ever, and I knew right away that no, he wasn't, but something about this moment made him want to share the weight on his shoulders despite that._

 _"Yes," Todoroki said, his tone final. "Are you?"_

* * *

The morning after he stayed the night at the Higuchi abode, hours after he and his peers devoured the breakfast they'd prepared for the residents of the house, Shouto finally worked up enough courage to visit his mother at the psychiatric ward for the first time since she was admitted. He'd spent the entire night before repeating the advice Higuchi unwittingly shared with him, that despite her grievances with her own mother, she was family, and Higuchi wouldn't trade that for the world.

Shouto wasn't blind to the similarities between his friend and his mother. On top of sharing the same name, both were selfless to a fault and didn't even realize it, inevitably paying the price for circumstances neither had any control over. He knew that because he saw it happen, saw it over and over again right in front of him. Higuchi carried the burdens of all those she cared about and on more than one occasion crumbled under the weight so much like his mother did all those years ago, and _yet_ —

" _I should be thanking you for being here."_

Though he didn't know how his mere presence could've been enough to mitigate the pressure on her shoulders, Shouto was glad he could help in some way. That was, perhaps, where the similarities between Higuchi and his mother bifurcated and the stark contrasts began. He had long since forgiven the latter for the scar that marked his face, but Shouto was so afraid that she hadn't forgiven him in return, for never visiting, for not being there, that he'd inadvertently stolen the happiness they coveted so dearly all those years.

Higuchi's words became a mantra of sorts as he signed his name on the blank sheet at the front desk, knocked on the door with his mother's name written along the side, stepped inside the room, too clean, too white, too cold. It was bright, but somehow there wasn't enough light. _She's still my mom_ , Shouto reminded himself. _I'd never wish otherwise._ Then she turned around, and he realized that the plain white of his hair and the specks of gray in his eyes and his scar, in spite of everything, were more radiant than any flame he could've ignited at that moment or ever.

His mother cried, and then they talked for hours about things Shouto never thought were of any importance, things that suddenly meant so much because they gave him a reason to have a conversation with her. His favorite food, his sprouting height, _oh, already catching up to your brothers_ , his final exams, his Quirk, _my kind, beautiful boy_ , all to hold her hand, to just be there with her in spite of the troubles that awaited him outside of those walls. And when they ran out of words, Shouto wondered if that was his cue to leave, if he needed a reason to be there in the first place.

" _I've come to realize that words very rarely do justice to emotions."_

Shouto had a lot to be grateful for, and maybe he took that for granted, too. It was becoming glaringly obvious that he depended more on Higuchi than any of their other classmates whether she realized it or not, and he wanted to repay the favor with more than just a simple _thank you_. He wasn't an empathetic person by nature, and in the end Higuchi didn't have many answers to his questions, but Shouto felt like he managed to discover some of his own.

" _How would you attempt to convey your feelings to someone without using words?"_

Sometimes you didn't need for a reason. Sometimes people just had to be there, and sometimes people just had to _feel_ without remorse. Shouto didn't know how to do that quite yet, not completely, but he was trying.

" _Hi, Mom."_

And that was enough.

* * *

The commute from my house to Shiketsu High was about twice as long as my daily trek to Yūei, but once upon a time, I considered enrolling there. It was much closer in distance to my middle school, and when I heard one of the seniors in the class above me got accepted, I saw it as a chance to escape the school both of my parents graduated rom.

I would have probably gotten in the same way I was chosen to attend Yūei (more or less nepotism and the privilege of having a famous mother and father under the guise of official recommendations), but so much had happened in the past few months that I honestly couldn't begin to imagine a life apart from this one.

My only regret was that their uniform was way cooler than ours.

"Aw, man, their uniforms are way cooler their ours!" Kaminari groaned, hanging his head in disappointment.

Case in point.

I didn't have time to concern myself about the fact that the newly dubbed _piss shit_ and I shared the same thought about something vaguely related to fashion. The three students from Shiketsu had gone from looking like tiny specks in the distance to standing right in front of us, proud and tall and almost regal in stature. I had consciously squared my shoulders upon their arrival, but that was less because of them being our rival school and more specifically because of the kid in the center.

It was a boy with lilac hair and a blank expression, hands clasped behind his back. He stood flanked by a beautiful blonde and a boy maybe taller than even Shōji. I recognized the latter from somewhere in the back of my mind, but I couldn't think of a name, and to be honest I couldn't be bothered to try and remember when the one with the pointed eyes was looking directly at me.

"Reiko," he said.

I felt the stares from just about every other person in the room and smothered the discomfort with a slight dip of my head. I heard Ashido even from here saying something about him using my first name _._ An innocent comment, but I thought about the number of times the whispers developed into rumors, and the rumors melded into lies. Despite that, though perhaps as expected from me, it seemed like all I could focus on was the unexpected burst of heat at my side.

"Seiji-senpai," I said, smiling politely. "It's good to see you."

The reaction was instantaneous and unanimous surprise. I heard gasps from the girls and an audible screech from Mineta on the other side of the room where Kan-oji introduced his class to the students from Isamu Academy. I saw Kaminari's jaw drop from the corner of my eye and Kirishima and Deku looking between me and the Shiketsu kid in bewilderment. Bakugou frowned, Shinsō raised a brow in curiosity, and Todoroki—I could've sworn I felt the flames spike, but the next time I blinked, the heat disappeared altogether.

"You know him?" Kaminari asked, his attempt at keeping his voice down thwarted by the astonishment in his tone. "I mean, yeah, since you just called each other by your first names—"

"We went to middle school together," I said, trying not to peek over at the dual haired boy in consternation. Everyone and their mom still looked this way, and considering the amount of people in our class who seemed to thoroughly enjoy gossip, it would've only brought forth even more unwanted attention.

"I must admit I'm a bit disappointed that we had to meet like this," Seiji-senpai said, his gaze situated on me. "I suspected as much when I didn't see you at the freshman orientation."

He seemed indifferent to the stares and static silence, but I could tell the subject still felt a bit sore. Seiji-senpai graduated as the Valedictorian of his middle school class, and as the top student in my year, I always felt like he expected me to follow in his footsteps. Not only did I end up attending a rival high school, I also grew up largely resenting the idea of becoming a Hero like my parents. Seiji-senpai looked up to them more than anyone.

In a lot of ways, he reminded me of my mom. His ideals clashed with mine for a long time, but Seiji-senpai tolerated my presence because he respected my parents and eventually grew to respect the parts of me he deemed strong. I found it a little ironic that I grew into the person I was now thanks to all the months I spent at Yūei, and that person was someone he'd approve of far more than my thirteen year old self.

"I appreciate the concern, senpai," I said, lips quirking into a purposefully haughty grin. "But contrary to what you might've seen on the news, I've done more at Yūei than just get into trouble."

Seiji-senpai gave me an inquisitive look, but the other boy from his school jumped in before he could get out another word, his eyes lighting up with a vociferous fierceness. Despite the buzzcut shaving off a few centimeters from the top of his head, he looked even taller up close.

"That's so awesome! You're like actual rivals now, huh, senpai? Wow! Yūei is really something else!"

"Who the fuck is this guy?" Bakugou muttered.

The guy saluted, lurching forward until his forehead hit the ground. I didn't think he so much as blinked upon impact, but looking at the scrapes marking his skin, I felt the need to flinch on his behalf.

"Yoarashi Inasa, at your service!"

"He heard you, dude," Kirishima said, nudging the blond. "Come on, Bakugou, you should at least introduce yourself! I'm Kirishima Ejirō, it's totally nice to meet you!"

Yoarashi grinned, holding his hand out for a friendly shake. "You're super hot-blooded, Kirishima!"

"Right back at ya!"

I looked at the redhead and then at Yoarashi, arching a brow when I noticed half of our class gaping at them as well. I saw no physical resemblance between them save for the matching grins on their faces, but the energy the two exuded was one and the same.

"Hi," the third student chimed in lastly, plump lips curving into a pretty smile. "I'm Camie! How's it goin'?"

None of us had a chance to respond. Maybe it was just a noble venture to keep Kaminari from passing out, but Aizawa-sensei stepped forward looking like he counted about ten reasons to quit his job during our first interaction with the Shiketsu kids alone.

"We'll be doing a training simulation today," Aizawa-sensei said, gesturing to the students on either side of him. "As you already know, we have three representatives from Shiketsu High joining us. Class 1-B will be teaming up with the kids from Isamu Academy."

"'Teaming up'?" Deku echoed in confusion.

"You can think of it as an extreme version of capture the flag. The exercise will take place in the forest grounds where both classes will be given a base of operations. Like I said, the main objective is to capture the other team's banner within the thirty minute time limit."

"Or what?" Shinsō asked, and I realized with a distinct sense of pride that this would be his first training exercise as part of the Hero Course.

"Or you lose," Aizawa-sensei replied bluntly. "You can also be tagged out if a member from the other group manages to capture the individual flags we'll be giving each person. If both teams fail to capture the banner, then the class with the most players still in the game wins."

I heard the sound of firecrackers popping behind me and didn't have to turn around to know Bakugou had the biggest shit eating grin on his face. Seiji-senpai turned to the blond in unconcealed distaste, while Yoarashi seemed to get more fired up at his antics. From the corner of my eye, I noticed Todoroki looking at the Shiketsu kids intently with a frown, but before I could give it much thought, Bakugou precipitously launched himself into the forest.

"By the way," Aizawa-sensei added after a moment. "Everything is fair game."

* * *

Aizawa-sensei and Kan-oji gave their respective classes a fifteen minute window to set up shop and strategize. The gears in my brain seemed to engage nonstop on the walk to our base, a cave atop a mountain surrounded by trees. I was familiar enough with my classmates to maximize our Quirks pretty well, and the fact that I knew Seiji-senpai on top of that should've given us an advantage the other team didn't have, but I had more concerns than just our plan of attack.

Most of the people in our class saw me as someone who took the initiative. Seiji-senpai would have expected as much, but to him, I was still his junior. I had no doubt he considered himself better than the rest of us, and to an extent, he was right. As a second year with a formidable Quirk, something like this was mere child's play, and that meant, for the sake of his pride, we had no option but to win.

His Quirk allowed him to manipulate human flesh, including his own, cut up parts of his body, and remotely control them. The only other person on par with him would've been Utsushimi-senpai, another second year with impressive illusionary powers, though Yoarashi, a first like the rest of us, proved to be just as capable with an elemental Quirk that at the very least matched Todoroki in terms of brute strength.

Aizawa-sensei mentioned that Yoarashi placed first at the Yūei entrance exams for recommended students. Not only did he turn down the offer in order to attend Shiketsu instead, but in placing first he would've had to beat both Momo and Todoroki. It might've been a good thing for us, too, if I didn't notice the looks he'd been giving the latter. None of them, and I counted a lot, looked like amiable expressions at all.

I had to get Seiji-senpai to cooperate with everyone, get Yoarashi to cooperate with Todoroki, and get Bakugou to cooperate period. In order to do that, I had to put on ten different faces at once, and that was impossible considering the number of people I'd be surrounded by. The most I could do was make sure no one walked out of this with their head blown off or turned into a giant ball of meat.

Damn.

"We should go for everyone's flags," I said suddenly, capturing the attention of nearly two dozen sets of eyes. "It couldn't hurt to take out a few of their players—"

 _Just in case? No. Todoroki, Bakugou, and Seiji-senpai are all looking this way, and none of them would accept losing as a possibility in any scenario. It's either we win or we win._

"On top of securing their banner," I finished, hardly skipping a beat.

Seiji-senpai nodded approvingly and I didn't miss the smirk that crossed Bakugou's face. Todoroki remained still, but seeing as he didn't protest, I figured it was safe to say I managed to dodge that bullet.

"Isn't that a bit of an overkill?" Ojiro inquired, sheepishly scratching at his temple.

Utsushimi-senpai shrugged, linking her arms behind her head. "Go big or go home."

"Going home is not an option," Seiji-senpai said, glancing at her and then dully looking back at me. "What do you propose we do, Reiko?"

 _He's asking me out of courtesy because they're the guests and I'm the only one he trusts aside from his schoolmates. Iida isn't here to make any big decisions, but I can't keep making propositions like this when our Vice President—no, if I put her on the spot—she only needs a few seconds._

"Let's split up into groups," I said, dragging my words and stalling an extra tick with a lax shrug. "Do you have any ideas, Momo?"

Jaws dropped from people in our class as she perked up at my uttering her first name, and though Momo was visibly the most surprised out of everyone, she commanded the undivided attention of every person in that cave with an ease she might've not even noticed herself.

Seiji-senpai wouldn't have the patience to deal with her if she started stumbling on her words, but like I said, Momo just needed a few seconds to gather her thoughts. I gave her an encouraging nod, and she managed to give me a small smile in return.

"Well," Momo said, fingers laced together. "If they're anything like how they were at the Sports Festival, then it's safe to assume that Class 1-B will be divided into those who want to attack us head on and those who want to ambush us from the side."

"Oh, man, the Sports Festival was so sick!" Yoarashi shouted, throwing a fist into the air. "A bunch of the finalists came from this class, right? But the other kids in the Hero course had super legit Quirks, too, y'know!"

"Like that copycat," Shōji said, folding one of his many arms across his chest as a couple of his eyes rolled in perfect circles.

Tokoyami sighed, mirroring both actions. "He was a bit of a nuisance."

"More like fucking annoying as shit," I saw Seiji-senpai bristle at Bakugou's blatant use of profanity, and it took more effort than I expected to smother a snort. "Next time I see him I'll blast him into the next damn city!"

I looked at Momo beside me and noticed her deflate at how far the conversation strayed from where she initially started. Her eyes flickered to mine when I squeezed her shoulder, and I offered her a smile of my own to show her I was still listening. Tentatively, she cleared her throat, and the chatter around us stopped in an instant.

"Groups of four or five should be enough to cover any blind spots each of us might have," she continued. "There should be one team sent to go after their banner and another stationed here at the base to keep watch on ours. The rest can work on picking off their players."

"We don't know anything about the Isamu kids' Quirks," Deku murmured, bringing his thumb to his chin.

"My friend Habuko-chan is one of the students there!" Tsuyu said, beaming. "Her Quirk paralyzes anyone who looks into her eyes!"

"That's kind of creepy," Kaminari whispered.

Jirō stomped on his foot, eliciting a yelp from the blond and fits of giggles from a neighboring brunette. "I know it's hard for you with just two brain cells and all, but at least try to use your noggin' in public."

"I overheard Kendō talking to the other girl," Shinsō said, hands tucked into his pockets. His Hero costume was uncannily similar to Aizawa-sensei's down to the fibers wrapped around his neck, but Hatsume made a chip attached to his collar on top of that, barely visible to the naked eye. It amplified the sound of his voice like a wireless, Bluetooth microphone, extending the range of his Quirk by up to a kilometer.

"She has some sort of digital mapping Quirk," he added. "It lets her track pretty much anyone she wants."

"A tracker?" Kaminari grinned, recovering from his injury and excitedly pointing at his headpiece. "Between me and Jirō, we've got that covered, too!"

I quirked a brow, solemnly dipping my head. "Don't worry, Shōji, I appreciate your contribution to this class."

The implication to my words didn't escape a few of the other boys and certainly not any of the girls in our class. Kaminari's grin turned into an unhinged mouth as one of Shōji's arms sent him a playful wave, and I didn't bother to hide my bemusement when he shot a look of betrayal my way.

"You know what I meant," Kaminari mumbled, his cheeks turning an unusual shade of pink.

Jirō rolled her eyes, her lips twitching into a self-satisfied smirk, and I was pleasantly surprised when she held out her fist, knocking my knuckles against hers. If I had been any more blunt with my teasing, it probably would've affected her just as much, but the fact that it was Kaminari made it less like a jab and more like a friendly joke as evidenced by the grin already back on his face.

"Well, that just leaves one," Kirishima said, brows furrowed. "And maybe a couple of the dudes from Class 1-B? Do we know what all of their Quirks are?"

"Mineta is in that class now," Ashido pointed out, shrugging. "I guess that's one less person we have to worry about."

Yoarashi blinked innocently. "Who's Mineta?"

Ashido and Jirō's expression darkened, and I was sure the majority of our class' did at the same time.

"You're way better off not knowing."

"Let's prioritize those we do know about for now," Momo suggested, her skin glowed violet as she pulled out a whiteboard and a marker out of her arm. Yoarashi was back to gaping at her in amazement while Utsushimi-senpai let out an _ooh_. Seiji-senpai looked mildly intrigued.

"Monoma," I said, unable to help rolling my eyes. "He can steal Quirks for a limited amount of time through physical contact."

Momo listed his name under _short range_ and then proceeded to write another name down under _mid-range_. "Kendō-san can expand her fists and has a decent range of attack."

"There's a guy with a Quirk sorta like mine," Ashido said, bouncing on the heels of her feet. "I don't know his name, but he's really big, kinda yellow-ish!"

"And we all know TetsuTetsu and I go way back!" Kirishima said, looking energized.

"You have the hardening Quirk!" Yoarashi grinned, matching his enthusiasm. "I saw you guys at the Sports Festival! That's so freakin' cool, dude!"

The redhead beamed at him. "You really think so?"

"Definitely!"

"Thanks, man!"

"I'm blind," Sero said, shielding his eyes. Ochako giggled again, and Deku worked up a smile through his nerves. "I can't see anything over their weirdly wholesome auras."

"Surely they aren't brighter than mine?" Aoyama asked, taking his cue to shimmer in just about every angle.

Tokoyami frowned in discomfort while Dark Shadow rustled beneath his cloak. "Please turn that off."

"Um," Hagakure's gloves floated towards what would've been her mouth as she brought her voice down to a whisper. "I think that's just his face."

Taking advantage of the momentary distraction, I nudged Bakugou on my other side, and his eyes lazily flitted over to see a feigned somber expression on my features.

"How do you feel about sharing your best friend?"

"Shitty hair can do whatever he wants."

"So you agree."

"What?"

"You think Kirishima is your best friend."

"Fuck off, Guppy," Bakugou scowled, swatting at me.

As Momo and a few others filled up the rest of the board, Seiji-senpai gave him a look of incredulity, which he then shifted towards me. It was easy to tell what he was thinking, and I was stuck between letting things blow over now or trying to keep his interactions with the blond to an absolute minimum.

"What did he just call—"

Bakugou twitched immediately, ready to redirect his glare with actual intended hostility. I let out a huff in exasperation and looked at the first person I could find for assistance, hoping he understood what I wanted to convey. Green eyes widened and then narrowed in understanding, prompting Deku to step forward.

"We have one more thing to worry about," Deku said, fidgeting under the watchful gaze of our classmates and then some. "Class 1-B's base is over by the lake, ours is here on this mountain, and between us is an entire forest. We should keep that terrain in mind when we allocate members to each group."

"Very good point, Midoriya-san," Momo nodded, smiling brightly. "There are about five minutes left before the timer goes off. Shall we begin?

* * *

It was sort of a no-brainer to have Tokoyami stay behind to watch the base. Dark Shadow was very much in his element inside the cave, and Aoyama staying with them meant having a solid failsafe that prevented the sentient being from going on an unnecessary rampage and a sniper that could take out adversaries before they got too close.

Kōda volunteered to act as their first line of defense, his Quirk allowing him to command an army of animals to help at his disposal. Utsushimi-senpai rounded up their group, casting an illusion over the entrance of the cavern to conceal it even further. Suffice it to say Class 1-B had little to no chance of taking our banner, but truth be told, I didn't think that was ever their intention.

"Bakugou!"

"I fuckin' heard you the first time!"

My arms thrust forward to pitch a pillar of ice into the air. The blond rushed ahead of me without another word and flew off the platform, igniting a massive explosion. It took out one of the students from Class 1-B I didn't know, but I didn't have time to care even if I did. Past the thickness of the trees came a shot of a glue-like substance aimed at the still airborne bomber.

"I don't think so!" Yoarashi bellowed, throwing a hand towards the attack. His cape and the leaves around him fluttered as a gust of wind sent the glue back towards where it came from, effectively trapping its user to the ground. "Hell yeah!"

"Thank you, Yoarashi-san," I said, grabbed the flag from the kid he knocked down.

"You got it, partner!"

As Yoarashi gave me a grin and a salute, I wondered how and why someone could be so cold to one person and then turn around and smile like that to just about everyone else, but I shoved the thought into a compartment and haphazardly shut the door.

 _Don't butt in, Reiko, it's none of your business._

I covered the soles of my boots with ice and stomped on the ground in morse code. I had no way of receiving messages in return, but Jirō was sent with the group tasked to capture the other team's banner, and she needed the confirmation on our end to stay in place or move forward. _Six down,_ I relayed to them. _The north side of the forest is clear._

"We should keep moving," Seiji-senpai said.

I paused, frowning. "Where's Kaminari?"

"That's not important."

"Please don't tell me he's a meatball."

Seiji-senpai sighed in resignation when I flashed him a pointed look. With a flick of his wrist, a lump of skin and bones fell from the branch above us, slowly reverting into the ochre haired blond. I gaped at the chunks and then at our senior in disapproval.

"It wasn't my fault," Seiji-senpai said, lifting his chin. "He shouldn't have been in the way."

Kaminari shot up from the ground, scrambling away from him. "That was the freakiest thing that's ever happened to me!"

"I've fuckin' had it," Bakugou growled, landing in front of the lilac haired boy. "Actin' all high and mighty and shit like you fucking own the place! You're on our damn turf!"

I spit out a string of curses in my mind and not-so-discreetly positioned myself between the blond and our senior. Yoarashi and Kaminari looked at them, back and forth, and then at me, eyes wide as if conflicted about having to step in themselves.

"I haven't forgotten we are the guests here," Seiji-senpai said, sneering in undisguised disdain. "Yūei has my utmost respect, and in all truthfulness, I looked forward to taking part in this exercise."

 _I can't believe they're seriously making me do this._

"It's people like your class, a bunch of rowdy delinquents who sully its name, that make me regret that decision."

 _Aizawa-sensei is going to kill us._

"And you, Bakugou Katsuki," Seiji-senpai muttered, bits of skin hovering behind him. "You're the worst of them all!"

A blast sounded from behind me, and then came a rush of air. Kaminari seemed to have an idea about what I planned to do and fell into a hushed silence. In contrast, Yoarashi burst into a shout of alarm, but I kept myself unyieldingly rooted in the middle and honed in on the blood, boiling and bitter.

"That's enough," I demanded.

The bodies hurtling towards each other stopped right in their tracks. Kaminari let out a loud sigh of relief, and I heard Yoarashi gasp sharply. Seiji-senpai looked absolutely appalled, his irritation masked by sudden fascination, and I realized that he just saw me manipulate plasma for the first time. Seiji-senpai would've never known in middle school that I was capable of something like this, but then again, neither did I.

I turned to give Bakugou a specific stare, stern but supplicating. _Seiji-senpai is still our senior and Shiketsu High is still our guest._ The blond rolled his eyes, but he seemed to get the gist of it and made a motion for me to set him back down on his feet, all the while flipping me off.

"Seiji-senpai," I said, looking over at him next. Kamihara-sensei taught me how to concentrate on select areas to control. First his legs, then his torso, but I kept his arms set at his sides until I was sure he wouldn't lash out. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't antagonize my friends."

His responses to that statement limited him to an apology, acceptance, or some variation of _they started it_ , and I knew he would've turned into a ball of meat himself before succumbing to such a childish argument. As much as Seiji-senpai detested the thought, he had no choice but to relent.

"You've gotten stronger, Reiko," Seiji-senpai muttered, dusting off the nonexistent dirt in his uniform. "Perhaps your time here hasn't been wasted after all."

I made an effort to depend less on the validation of others to sustain me, but I couldn't help the fact that Seiji-senpai was one of the first people outside of my family I both admired and looked up to. His praise made me preen a bit, though I could at least say with confidence that it wasn't because it came from him or even because of the complement itself. It was because he was right: my time here hadn't been wasted.

 _That was too close._

And then we saw the smoke.

* * *

Shouto saw the gas moments before the rest of his group. It was different from the smoke his flames created, fuschia in color and far denser in consistency. He didn't consider it all that dangerous, especially since Aizawa-sensei was out there somewhere monitoring their progress, but it was better to be safe than sorry, and something about how quickly the vapor spread throughout the trees alarmed him.

"What the hell is that?" Kirishima blurted, leering at the darkening skies with urgency.

Midoriya grimaced, holding his arm out to keep Uraraka and Yaoyorozu behind him. "It must be one of the Isamu kids' Quirks."

"You mean assuming we're actually lucky this time and Villains haven't taken over," Shinsō muttered, dark eyes narrowing warily. "Mind pumping out some gas masks for us, Vice?"

"Not at all," Yaoyorozu said, skin sparkling as about half a dozen masks popped out from her arms. The smog inched closer, steadily, ominously. "We need to find higher ground!"

Shouto shook his head, not out of defiance, but at himself. His mind had been in disarray since that morning, or at least since the students from Shiketsu had arrived, and truthfully, he felt disconcerted by their presence more than he would've liked to admit. The first one to catch his attention was the tallest of the bunch, burly and with a buzzcut, familiar in a way that told him they'd met before, though Shouto couldn't remember when, where, and how.

He wasn't privy to the hawkish stares pointed in his direction, and he let it slide the first few times. Most attempts succeeded in remaining discreet, but failed miserably when he caught their glares, eliciting even more hostile reactions. As one of the top students at the most prestigious school in the country with the Pro Hero Endeavor as his father and a powerful Quirk of his own, many people had many reasons to dislike him. Shouto simply couldn't be bothered to be bothered.

And then it happened.

" _Reiko."_

The second year boy from Shiketsu was proud to a pompous degree. Shouto didn't dislike him because of it, knowing fully well that he, himself, often came across as arrogant to many others, but the implication in his words grated at Shouto's nerves.

It was evident that the Shiketsu student thought Higuchi should've attended his school instead of Yūei, that they would've made much better comrades than Class 1-A, than _Shouto_ , of all people. If there was anything he had no issues showing open contempt towards, it was being patronized.

His conversation with Higuchi minutes prior to that first meeting replayed in his memory. Names were important, but they weren't the most significant aspect to one's character. Despite the second year from Shiketsu freely calling Higuchi by her first name, Shouto doubted the boy knew her better than he or most of their classmates did, and that offered him some semblance of comfort.

 _But why did he feel so unsettled in the first place?_

"Todoroki-kun!"

Shouto didn't think twice to create a massive wall of ice, halting the smog from catching up to their group. He stood there, gaze stormy like a tempestuous gale spurring the tumultuous tides of turquoise, and his jaw taut like he held back from uttering an equally torrential script. The glazed tower above them stood even taller than that, dwarfing the coniferous plantation surrounding the immediate area.

"That might've been a little much," Shinsō mused, breaking the stunned silence that swept over them

"Sorry," Shouto muttered, hands shoved into his pockets as he worked on stabilizing the sudden drop in his body temperature. Heat erupted from his left side, calming the frost that had slowly started to creep down his right arm.

"Thank you, Todoroki-san," Yaoyorozu cleared her throat, turning to him with an impressively steady smile. "That should leave us more than enough cover to return to base."

"Return to base?" Uraraka repeated, her staggered breaths coming out as visible puffs of air. Shouto frowned at the sight, staring at his hands and then at the glacier that had apparently dropped the temperature in the atmosphere as a whole by a few degrees.

 _Maybe I did over do it._

Midoriya shot his friend a concerned albeit fleeting glance and then nodded at the redhead. "It'll be best for us to stay together at a secure location. Kirishima-kun, would you mind sending a message to Kaminari-kun and Jirō-san?"

"I have a better idea," Kirishima grinned, fists hardened and ready as he pointed at the behemoth of ice still hovering over them. "Hey, Uraraka, think you can get me up there?"

* * *

 **.-. . - ..- .-. -. / - - / -... .- ... .**

" _return to base"_

"That's definitely Kirishima," I said, looking up at the message scrawled on the gargantuan slab of ice at the opposite end of the forest. _And that was definitely Todoroki._ "They're lucky they aren't too far from the cave."

"What kind of stunt is that icy hot bastard trying to pull?" Bakugou scoffed, dragging his feet through the soil.

Yoarashi mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like _typical Todoroki_ under his breath. I bridled at the shadow of a scowl on his face, but Kaminari whistled and turned in my direction, impelling me to maintain a neutral expression.

"You know, Rei, I haven't seen him pull that move since All Might kidnapped you," Kaminari grinned, brows dancing gleefully.

"Did I lose my hearing from those wildly unnecessary explosions?" Seiji-senpai said, his tone sedated. "Or did the blond buffoon just say All Might kidnapped you?"

"Blond bu—"

"It's a long story," I sighed, pressing a finger against my temples. "Thanks to Todoroki, we can probably cut our travel time in half."

I shut my eyes and focused on turning bits of the frozen substance in the distance back into its liquid state, beckoning it towards us slowly and surely like an old friend in need of a favor. My hands hovered in front of me and then spun in circles at my sides, collecting the incoming stream of water into a sphere until the five of us stood on a solid block of ice.

"Bakugou, Yoarashi-san," I said, thrusting my arms behind me. "Would you mind adding a couple of engines?"

The makeshift plane started shifting through the trees, propelled by the geysers I steered beneath us. Bakugou clicked his tongue but readily obliged, bending his knees into a crouch as I strapped his boots down onto the floating, crystalline stone. His palms released two explosions that sent us pitching forward in accordance with the cyclone Yoarashi summoned to speed us along even further, essentially turning our mode of transportation into an impromptu jet.

I spotted the mountain in a matter of minutes, but the sight that accompanied it elicited an automatic headache. Monoma and a handful of Class 1-B students, Mineta unfortunately one of them, stood locked in a stalemate against a flock of birds summoned by Kōda. Utsushimi-senpai watched from near the entrance of the fake cave entrance, specifically frowning at the unrepentant libertine ogling at her chest.

"I'm going to kill them," Bakugou muttered.

We started moving twice as fast as before. I pursed my lips to keep myself from agreeing aloud and tried not to roll my eyes when Monoma let out a clamorous cackle. He hadn't even seen us yet.

 _That's literally his battle cry to a bunch of birds._

Seiji-senpai clicked his tongue, arms crossed and unimpressed. "Your class was perturbingly vexed about that?"

"I'd be a fool to take them seriously," I said, forming a water whip with my dominant arm. "But it'd be even stupider not to just because I think they're annoying."

My arm swung forward without hesitation, and by extension, the liquid lasso grabbed Mineta by the head. He let out a shriek, alerting the others of our incoming arrival, but before anyone could properly react I had him frozen to his neck against a pile of rocks.

 _How does someone like that deserve to be taught by both Aizawa-sensei and Kan-oji?_

"It's you!" Monoma sneered. "As if I'd—"

I sent the whip flying in his direction next, but he was shoved aside by someone I recognized as their own recommended student, Honenuki Jūzo. Bakugou growled and leapt off the ice, right hook reared and loaded. Upon landing, he launched an explosion aimed at the ground, triggering short tremors and a smokescreen that blanketed the immediate area.

"Reckless brat," Seiji-senpai muttered, eyes nearly twitching in irateness. "Reiko, please create a pathway for me."

I did as he asked, building a crystallized slide that led to the escarpment. "You should probably go with him, Kaminari."

"Um," the blond flinched as Seiji-senpai hopped onto the slope, molds of flesh suspended behind him in preparation for an attack. "I'll wait, thanks."

"I'm not!" Yoarashi announced, his lips splitting into an ear to ear grin. "Here I come!"

An air current dragged him off, his cape flapping behind him. He brought his arm back and then forward again, blowing away the smoke to reveal Bakugou surrounded by all but one of the students from Class 1-B present. Monoma tried swiping at the bomber in an attempt to steal his Quirk, but the latter fired an innocuous blast to pivot and dodge with ease.

Behind him was Kaibara Sen, one of Kan-oji's students I considered a friendly acquaintance. He never said much, but I found him quite pleasant to talk to given the chance. Not so great was the fact that his Quirk was a strength augmentation type, and considering we stood on the ledge of a very high cliff further compromised by Bakugou's explosions, I knew it would only prove to be an inconvenience.

"Yoarashi-san!" I called out, shattering a light screen Tsuburaba Kosei produced in defense. "Don't let that kid throw a punch!"

Kaibara's head shot up at my command, his signature frown deepening as the ebullient Shiketsu first year sent a cyclone in his direction. I nearly gasped at the size and strength of it, not to mention the speed it came at him, but the former was just barely able to withstand the intensity of the squall thanks to his Quirk. That didn't save the giant tree that had been knocked down in the crossfire.

"Kaminari, it's time to get off!"

"What—"

I shoved him off the side of the platform and then pushed off the surface, lobbing the giant slab of ice at the branches about to crush Kōda and Utsushimi-senpai. It toppled over just enough to miss them and a blast of wind from Yoarashi sent the rest of the tree over the edge of the precipice.

"Are you alright, Kōda, Utsushimi-senpai?" I asked, softening my descent to the ground with a swirl of liquid from my flask.

Kōda bobbed his head and smiled, while Utsushimi-senpai sent me an impish wink. "Call me Camie! We're all good thanks to you!"

"Camie-senpai, then," I said, slightly taken aback by her informality. _She seems pretty lax for someone who hangs around Seiji-senpai._ "How are Tokoyami and Aoyama doing?"

Kōda gestured to the cave and followed the action with a thumbs up. I gave him a smile in return and turned to survey the damage from the fight. Mineta was exactly where I'd left him, and Bakugou had both Kaibara and Kaminari by the scruff of their necks, probably having saved the latter from taking an unsuspecting dive. I counted a total of five students from Class 1-B when we first arrived, and it looked like the other four, including Monoma and Honenuki, had been unceremoniously turned into balls of pulp.

"That was a-fricken-mazing!" Yoarashi roared, bursting at the seams in excitement.

From the corner of my eye, I noticed Kaibara raise a brow. His mouth curved into a frown, and though I deemed that just a Kaibara thing to do, I had to remind myself that Seiji-senpai single-handedly reduced his entire group into lumps of flesh. I cringed at the thought and offered him a small, apologetic grin.

"Truce?"

"You beat us," Kaibara said, though not unkindly. "Why do we need a truce?"

I looked off into the near distance where the pink smoke rose above some of the highest trees in the forest. It didn't seem to spread any further than that, which meant our base was safe for the time being, but that didn't take into account what the gas actually did and how many people must've already breathed it in. Kaibara turned to see what I was staring at, and the way his eyes went uncharacteristically wide made me grimace.

"That's why."

* * *

 **postscript**

 **jngsjngs. tumblr. com**

 _pls there's cute art of rei and friends and playlists i spend way too long on_

the shiketsu kids showed up way earlier than they did in the manga, but the license exams are about to start airing in the anime, and i just couldn't not include them in the story. i'm really glad i did it, though, because i haven't had this much fun writing in a while! (๑•͈ᴗ•͈) there was just too much going on to conclude in a single chapter and i didn't want to rush the themes addressed in this arc, especially the development between todoroki and his feelings towards his parents, todoroki and yoarashi, and todoroki and reiko. not counting the author's note, i hit about twelve thousand words, and the next one is definitely going to be just as long if not longer (◡‿◡✿) hope you're looking forward to it!

on another note, i am so blown away by all of the responses from the last chapter. i haven't had time to reply to comments and reviews since i wanted to get these chapters out before the _my hero academia_ movie premieres (because I'm going to have a chapter or two based on that, too, and in order for it to fit into the timeline i have to write it before the summer camp arc), but i just wanted to thank you for all of your support and kind words ꒰๑•̥﹏•̥๑꒱ i'll definitely be sending messages out once things settle down both in the story and real life! until then, i hope you enjoy this chapter, and i hope you continue to share any of your thoughts and opinions! i really, really appreciate it (˃̥̥ω˂̥̥̥)

thank you so much for reading!

(◍•ᴗ•◍) ✧*。

* * *

yay! jealousy! i love teen angst! not _i'm an aspiring hero with the weight of the world on my shoulders_ angst but real teen angst! seriously tho i wish i had someone there to tell me that all of my feelings as a teenager were valid instead of having every adult brush it aside as if a fifteen year old with an entire spectrum of emotions was the most appalling thing they've ever seen or heard lmfao

that said i wanted to make it a point to show a proper juxtaposition between rei and shouto at this point of the story and i thought jealousy would be an interesting take on that bc i feel like it's something common and uncommon at the same time? like i feel like people think it's cliche for characters to get jealous bc it's such a widely used trope but there are different kinds of jealousy and rei and shouto's are two examples of that

rei's jealousy stems from her insecurities, in particular her thoughts about not being good enough even when she's trying her best. she said herself that she really doesn't care if shouto talks to other people, especially when those people happen to be some of her closest friends, but she's been increasingly hard on herself and finds it difficult not to make comparisons with pretty much everyone around her. momo just happens to be at the top of the list bc she and rei are already similar in a number of ways (hero family, rich, "pretty," smart, kind) but rei thinks momo is better in basically every category

shouto's jealousy is rooted in the fact that he's never felt the need to compete with anyone bc he's always been regarded as the best, but then all of a sudden this kid from shiketsu comes in and acts like a total know it all and makes him reconsider a bunch of things he thought he knew. it isn't so much that he's jealous someone else knows rei better than he does (if that was the case he would've been jealous of ochako or bakugou etc a while ago), but whether or not he's realized it yet he's afraid that he doesn't know her as well as he thought he did or that he's not as good of a friend as he thought he was and he just doesn't know how to express that

if u read this arc in the manga tho u kno he has some issues with the other shiketsu kid too which brings me to point out that this is definitely about more than just what shouto and reiko feel for each other (still largely platonic on shouto's side but we're moving along folks) it's about how they feel abt themselves and how that in turn affects each other and those around them

BUT WAIT THOSE FLASHBACKS JWKHSDKSF I WASN'T PLANNING ON IT WHEN I MENTIONED THE LOVE LANGUAGES I WAS JUST LIKE I WONDER IF THERE ARE ANY EXAMPLES OF THAT IN THE STORY AND THERE WAS LITERALLY A SCENE FOR EACH ONE i wish i could say i was smart enough to plan that ahead of time but no. or maybe my past self was just looking out for me? thank u jngsjngs

anyway i have a few playlists up on my tumblr pls PLS listen and lmk what u think! i spend more time on them than i should but i can't help it lmao i literally made another spotify just to do this and it takes so long bc i don't have premium on the account i use for the story so i end up having to use my normal account to make the playlists and then just copy and paste onto jngsjngs sjqkhadksf sorry i know that's such a first world problem

ok my brain is abt to implode i rly wasnt expecting to write a new chapter this soon but it was a lot of fun to write so no regrets except for the fact that it's 3am lulz thx for reading guys ur the best

(´•ω•̥`)


	21. Sailing

No copyright infringement intended.

* * *

—

 **XI. Sailing**

—

* * *

The area outside of the fake entrance to base camp was thoroughly trashed. It was evident that a fight had broken out fairly recently, but the closer their group approached the real hideout, the less it seemed there was any reason to be wary. First they heard Bakugou yelling indistinctly about something or another because he was Bakugou, and then came a booming laugh that didn't belong to anyone Shouto could name off the top of his head.

"Sounds like they're okay," Uraraka said, arms stretched out in front of her as she nearly collapsed to the ground in exhaustion.

Shouto spotted three blonds sitting in a row, ashy spikes positioned further from the rest, but his eyes swept past them to land on a pair of crimson already staring back at him. They glimmered like garnets in the barely lit chamber, a tell-tale sign of her sub rosa smile, and he realized after a breath that the corners of his mouth had twitched in an unwitting effort to return the gesture.

"Is everyone alright?" Yaoyorozu asked, scanning each individual in consternation.

A loud scoff turned heads toward a fourth blond sat in the back of the cave, arms crossed and leaning against a protruding wall.

"Not really, now that the rest of you Class 1-A freaks are here."

Midoriya stuttered out a name, perhaps the blond's, but Shouto didn't care enough about the stranger to pay mind to the rest of their conversation. He slipped past Uraraka still lying across the ground and plopped himself down on the empty space next to Higuchi, legs folded and elbows resting on his knees.

"I'm going to assume none of you inhaled the gas," she said, looking at him again or still. Her eyes didn't waver, and as he responded with a nod, Shouto decided that it must've been the latter.

Then a thought came to him and he paused, head tilted in question. "How did you know?"

"Because it turns you into zombies!" Kaminari blurted, throwing his arms up into the air. "Seriously, of all the—I mean, it's kind of cool, but _zombies eat brains_ —"

"You're fuckin' safe then," Bakugou muttered, brows furrowing into a benign scowl as Kirishima bounded up to his side.

The second year from Shiketsu scoffed at his comment and Shouto frowned, suddenly aware of their presence and the dirty look pinned at him courtesy of the other Shiketsu student. He wasn't sure who to regard first, if he should've paid them mind at all, but the one with a sneer made the decision for him by intensifying his glare upon realizing he'd been caught.

"Did I do something to you?" Shouto asked him abruptly, halting all of the conversations in the immediate area.

The boy grinned, but the smile didn't reach the rest of his features, if only dimming them even more.

 _What's with that face?_

"Yeah, I guess you could say that."

Shouto didn't say anything, and for a moment, neither did his opposition or anyone else inside the grotto. It was so quiet that he could hear the sound of water dripping in intervals somewhere far away, similar to the ticking of a grandfather clock, echoing until it reached his ears and felt like it was right behind him.

"What was that Kaminari said?" Kirishima asked, clearing his throat in a noble attempt to diffuse the tension. "A bunch of our friends could've been turned into zombies?"

"Kaminari tried contacting Jirō and all he got back was a bunch of incomprehensible noises," Higuchi said, traces of a smile wiped from her face. "According to Kaibara, the person with this Quirk has no way to reverse the effects. The most we can do now is wait things out and hope those who've been infected don't think to look for us here."

The redhead flinched at her tone for the same reason Shouto refused to take his eyes off hers: she, of all people, wouldn't let this slide.

"Rei—"

"I'm just saying," Higuchi regarded them with the very face of passive aggressive, an utterly empty expression underlined by the cinder in her irises. "Deal with it or don't, but don't let this," her eyes narrowed. "Whatever _this_ is supposed to be make the situation even worse."

 _Drip._

 _Drip._

 _Drip._

"Well, then, I'll just put it out there," the kid from Shiketsu snorted, his smirk twisting into a shadowy sort of scowl, grave and unforgiving. "I don't like you, Son of Endeavor," he stared at him a second longer and huffed out a breathy, humorless laugh. "Damn, I hate those eyes."

Shouto felt his stomach tighten in anticipation. Just another Endeavor hater. _Don't listen to him. I get it. I get it._ And he did. He understood that better than anyone, but the things he heard didn't sit in his stomach very well, and Shouto—

He needed to ask.

"'Those eyes?'"

"Yours," the Shiketsu student spat out. "And your father's. They're one and the same, but I guess you knew that, huh?"

An eerie quietude settled in the atmosphere and it felt suffocating, palpable in a way that had Shouto inhaling embers and exhaling flakes of frost. He shouldn't have been so bothered. For a few seconds measured by the persistent liquid leaking in the background, he thought the words would roll off his shoulders with a shrug and half-hearted attempt at an apology, something unintentionally cheeky, like, _I'm sorry you don't like me._

But it didn't.

It lingered, and Shouto decided he wasn't sorry at all. The Shiketsu second year muttered a low, warning, "Yoarashi," under his breath, and Shouto dug his fingers into his palms, both at the sound of his voice and the name itself.

 _I've heard that before._

"It's not like he remembers me, senpai," Yoarashi said, throwing his head back in exaggerated laughter. He dropped the act long enough to sneer at Shouto again, muscles taut. "You don't, right? You've totally forgotten who I am? You couldn't even be bothered to look at me that day."

 _That day?_

" _Yoarashi Inasa!"_

Shouto's eyes widened.

That day was the day of the marathon for those eligible to enroll into Yūei through recommendations. Shouto recalled losing to another student, but he didn't come to win or lose. He came to prove to his father that he could and would achieve more without him, because Shouto wasn't like his father in the first place.

Yoarashi Inasa was the one who had bested him in the match, tried to talk to him after, and Shouto remembered—

"I came to talk to you despite your father shunning me away all those years ago. 'Out of my way,' he said. I thought he was the epitome of a Lionheart, so fiery and passionate! Who would've thought that the Flame Hero could be so cold and cruel?"

 _You were never in my line of sight because my eyes were on his back for such a long time. I was so caught up in my anger that I didn't want any distractions to keep me from my goals._

"You said the same thing after the race," Yoarashi said, slowly pushing himself to his feet. "I thought I'd try to be your friend, but you just told me to get out of your way, didn't even look at me as you said it."

 _Don't get riled up._

 _Drip._

 _Drip._

 _Drip._

 _Don't—_

"I hate people like that the most," Yoarashi muttered, furiously shaking his head. "Sure, it looks like something's a little different about you now, but people like you and your father don't change—"

"Shut up."

Shouto couldn't forget the day he returned home from the Sports Festival clutching his trophy with the fingers in his left hand. It was the first time he used his flames in a fight, though more than that, it was the first time he used his flames in front of his father at his own will.

He thought it meant he had finally left his past where it rightfully belonged, but the image of Endeavor grinning at him in such a self-satisfied manner made him seethe down to his bones and served as a reminder that despite his moving forward, they remained very much in the present.

It took everything in him and then some to thrust the metal into his father's hands without turning the prize into a pile of molten gold.

"Keep it," he'd said. "I didn't do it to win, and I definitely didn't do it for you."

Shouto didn't hate his father, but that didn't mean he'd forgiven him. Not when he saw every night how hard Fuyumi-nee worked after hours at her job to clean the house and cook dinner and be a mom because their mother sat lonely and alone in a big box with white walls. Not when he considered it lucky to see Natsuo-nii twice a year because he couldn't stand to visit from university just to come home and deal with their dad.

Not when Touya-nii was somewhere out there or nowhere at all and Shouto might never know the difference.

That trophy was everything his father stood for as much as it was everything Shouto didn't want to be. He was awarded first place after beating the rest of the first years in a competition to be the best, but the reward from that day manifested as the warmth at his fingertips when he used his flames on the minefield.

All he could think about in that moment was his mother and her smile, all he could see was Higuchi looking at him with the sun in her eyes, and all he could feel was the warmth within himself. He still had a long way to go, but all of those things made the voyage worth it.

 _"Endeavor is powerful. His fire embodies him, and it's exactly just that. Fire, nothing more, nothing less."_

To be compared to the Number Two Hero in such a way, no matter how true it might've been in the past, set his blood on fire. Shouto would be better than him, not because of his Quirk, but because, like his mother and his friends around him, he'd learn to be strong, and he'd learn to be kind.

 _"But you—"_

"I am my father's son," Shouto said, his voice sharp and eyes piercing like silver swords and a chilling glaze. "But I am not my father."

 _Drip._

 _Drip._

 _Drip._

" _You're so warm."_

And then came the explosion.

* * *

It was declared nearly two decades ago that the true color of the universe was somewhere between a pale turquoise and aquamarine. I read the news in an outdated magazine a couple of years back, and I thought about it every time I saw the ocean or looked up at a particularly clear sky. Mostly the ocean. I didn't know what I would've assumed the color of the universe to be given the opportunity or democratic vote, but I couldn't help but think it was strangely fitting that the heart of the galaxy was blue.

A few months after that, I had to do research for a school project, and I read on one of the pages I stumbled upon in my endless scrolling that the actual true color of the universe was a beige-ish white. For a fleeting moment, I was disappointed that it was no longer my favorite color, or maybe never even was, but I was more relieved that I didn't have to venture out into the void of space and oblivion to witness such a beautiful hue. I could see it whenever I came to visit my hometown, and these days, I saw it almost everyday in Todoroki's eyes.

Looking at him in that moment, I found it hard to believe once again that the color of the universe wasn't the color of his eyes, especially now that there was a distinct blackness mixed in with the blue-ish green. Fragments of crushed turquoise and bits of spinel or obsidian. Silver dulled into a cloudy sort of gray. As far as metaphors went, I didn't think it was presumptuous of me to say a storm brewed inside of him, and I felt it about to hit.

 _How are they still so beautiful?_

I didn't have time to mull over an answer thanks to the explosion that made the cave tremble. The gasp that rippled through my throat ached for two reasons, first being that I had been so on edge during Yoarashi's spiel, and second because the dirt that flew as a result of the impact turned the cavern into a dust storm. Liquid was ready at my fingertips in seconds, eyes shut to focus on our intruders' blood as I used divination to locate them instead of squinting through the rubble.

"Get rid of this filth, Yoarashi!" I heard Seiji-senpai command from somewhere nearby.

"You'll blow our cover!" I protested, stifling a grimace at my choice of words. _Literally._ "There are three by the entrance and each one is superpowered thanks to this zombie Quirk! We'd just be making it easier for them to take us out in such a small space!"

"Honenuki!" Kaibara called out, louder than I'd ever heard him speak. "Quicksand!"

The warble of something ominous reverberated through the chamber, stimulating the ivory haired boy to shove through the volley of rocks and stomp his foot down onto the ground. Sturdy stone shifted into soft sand in a matter of seconds, spreading to smother the next few feet ahead of him.

I could faintly see the outline of three bodies struggling to escape the makeshift snare. As the dust began to settle, it became glaringly obvious that our classmates had indeed turned into the lifeless and brain dead cadavers I thought I would only ever see in films.

"What the hell, that's Sero!" Kaminari cried, his fingers tugging at his hair in disbelief. "He's seriously a freakin' zombie!"

Tsuburaba gaped at the thorns sticking out of the soil like slithering snakes, tangled with the tape Sero seemed to still be unknowingly shooting off.

"Shiozaki got turned into one of those things, too!"

"And that's the girl from Isamu," Shinsō said, pointing out the figure in the forefront of the bunch. "Does that mean she used her mapping Quirk to find us even in this state?"

His question seemed to catch the attention of said soulless corpse. It uttered a string of sounds I wasn't even going to try to decipher, but it looked like the other zombies understood her perfectly fine. At that moment, a tremor came from directly above us, and then much like the first attack, the ceiling caved in without so much as a warning.

"Shit," I cursed.

A crystallized dome manifested just in time to keep the lot of us from getting crushed by the boulders battering against the surface of the cupola. My hands remained steady over my head, but I could feel my legs quiver and tried not to tremble at the unmitigated weight. Bakugou and Deku swiftly leapt in front of me, brows furrowed in determination and concern, and the sense of déjà vu was a reminder of how reckless I might've been for attempting to pull this stunt again.

"We can get rid of the debris!" Deku said, fists glowing all the way to his shoulders.

Bakugou spared him a side-eyed glare, palms crackling like fireworks. "You better keep up, Deku!"

"Thanks," I grunted, falling to my knees when a particularly heavy chunk of rock slammed into the dome. Momo stepped forward to place a delicate hand on my shoulder, and in a matter of seconds, she created a harness to help support my joints. "You guys are going to have to do this fast!"

"Ready!"

"Fuckin' do it already!"

My arms slumped to my sides and almost instantly the frozen rotunda shattered, leaving us susceptible to the hundreds of sharp stones suspended over our heads. As soon as the last of the shield disappeared, Deku threw a punch that blew every last bit away, and Bakugou launched a subsequent blast that disintegrated even the smallest remnants into harmless soot.

Beams of sunlight started seeping through the holes, revealing a head of strawberry blond and the massive fist that broke through the roof. Next to her was a glint of aluminum trapped beneath just enough rocks to remain immobile.

"Kendō?" Monoma muttered in surprise, his tone, maybe even more surprisingly, displaying indisputable worry. "TetsuTetsu?"

Momo and Kirishima said their names in tandem with the blond, looking up at their respective internship partners with equal solicitude. I stumbled to my feet and the two tore their gazes away from the non-existent ceiling for a second to help steady my balance.

"There should be six more of our classmates, twelve from Class 1-B, and the other two from Isamu left," I said, listing names and faces in my head. "Camie-senpai, do you think you can cast an illusion to make us look like the zombies?"

"Not a problem," she replied, blowing a kiss in my direction.

A mist-like substance emanated from her lips, slowly spreading until it had us shrouded in a dense fog. I couldn't tell the difference, but I figured it had to do with being part of the illusion itself.

"That should do it, my dudes!"

"Jirō, Ashido, and Hagakure must've been turned," Kirishima said, brows furrowed. "They were in a group with Sero to find the other team's flag."

Tokoyami inched into the light with Dark Shadow rustling restlessly beneath his cloak. "Shōji would have contacted us by now, which leads me to believe that he and Ojiro must be infected as well."

"And Tsuyu-chan," Ochako added, biting her lip. "Didn't she say one of the Isamu students is a friend of hers?"

" _Oui_ ," Aoyama murmured.

His usual sparkle seemed to dim under the increasingly dire circumstances. I made a note to take it a little easier on him, feeling guilty about having been hard on him at all. For the record, these were as much his friends as they were mine.

"That leaves the shithead who started this whole fucking mess," Bakugou scoffed, folding his arms across his chest. "Who the fuck was it?"

Tsuburaba frowned at him, no doubt having flashbacks to his sweep at the Sports Festival. "He kind of reminds me of you."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean, damn NPC?"

"It means you're both barbarians with no sense of boundaries," Monoma sneered, glaring at his fellow blond.

"You _shitty_ —"

"Monoma," I said, leveling my tone and forcing my mouth into a neutral line."Can you steal the Isamu girl's Quirk and locate the rest of them?"

He blew me off with a snobbish grin. "Why would I do that?"

"Come on, Monoma," Honenuki cut in, clapping him on the back. "You heard her, didn't you? More than half of our class might be out there bashing their skulls against a tree or something!"

"What happened to waiting it out?" Monoma asked, scowling although his resolve appeared to waver quite a bit. He might not like Class 1-A, but that didn't mean he didn't care about his own classmates.

"That didn't work, obviously," Seiji-senpai said, bringing up two fingers to massage his temples. "Staying idle out in the open like this will only leave us vulnerable to more surprise attacks."

To his credit, Monoma seemed to acknowledge Seiji-senpai's seniority and bit his tongue on the matter, glaring at me and Bakugou on his way toward the zombies imprisoned by the quicksand. The girl from Isamu began spluttering when he started to close in and the zombified Sero and Shiozaki took that as an incentive to launch a bombardment of tape and thorns.

Monoma ducked in time to avoid a slap in the face, but it left an opening for Mineta to get thrown into a pile of rubble. Kaminari jumped in front of us and used his electricity to paralyze them long enough for the blond to touch his fingers against her shoulder. A digital map materialized in front of him, blinking dots scattered throughout the squares laid out across the chart.

"Here—"

In a split-second, Kendō shifted through the rubble and slammed her enlarged first down on what should've been Monoma's astonishingly well-kept head of blond hair. I caught the movement before it landed, standing in front of him with another shield of frost haphazardly thrown above us, albeit smaller and much more condensed. An arbitrary chill nipped at my cheeks, my breath suddenly coming out in clouds, and the next time I blinked Kendō was imprisoned in a block of ice.

"Thanks," I said, turning to Todoroki with a nod. He mirrored the action and I tried not to frown at his now vacant expression, switching my attention to the gaping blond. "Please continue."

"Whatever," Monoma muttered, hastily averting his gaze to the map. "We're surrounded by about half a dozen of those things, but it looks like the rest of them are randomly wandering around by our base camp."

"May I see the ones in the area?" Momo asked, leaning over to study the map. I wouldn't have been surprised if she memorized the blueprint in the five minutes Monoma had access to the Quirk. "It appears Shōji-san and Ojiro-san are by the northern entrance while Asui-san and her friend are situated in the south. Jirō-san and Hagakure-san are in the east, and Ashido-san is in the west with someone I presume to be from Class 1-B."

"That's Yanagi Reiko," Honenuki said, pointing at the dot marking her location from Monoma's other side. "I don't know a lot about her Quirk, to be honest, but from what I've seen she can possess objects and people for a limited amount of time."

"Like a poltergeist?" Momo offered.

Honenuki snapped his fingers. "Yeah, that sounds about right!"

"It'd be ideal to stay together," Deku said, brows furrowed. "But it'd also be harder to maneuver through a crowd in case another fight breaks out in an enclosed space, which is likely considering we'll have to face them to get out of here, which we should do as soon as possible since the rest of the cave could collapse any second now—"

"Divide and conquer," Shinsō interrupted. "That's pretty doable in theory, but do you have an actual plan?"

"Um, sort of," Deku said, frowning. "I just think it's weird that all this happened and Aizawa-sensei and Kan-sensei still haven't tried to stop the exercise."

A shrill, high-pitched sound of a screeching microphone cut through the air. I winced and saw Ochako slap her hands over her ears until the noise dulled into the static voice of none other than Aizawa-sensei himself. It was such a serendipitous cue that had I not known better I would've sworn our homeroom teachers planned it from the start.

" _Attention to all remaining students: the exercise has been compromised. Your mission now is not to capture the flag, but to capture those infected by the zombie virus effective immediately."_

"I really shouldn't have expected any less," Shinsō muttered, shaking his head in exasperation.

Kaminari groaned and motioned to the zombies before us, restrained but otherwise unmarked. "How are we supposed to do that if they can't even get hurt normally?"

I looked at the sophomore standing a few feet away. Seiji-senpai stood alarmingly close to Yoarashi as if poised to act in a worst case scenario. I was slightly taken aback when I realized I had crept closer to Todoroki for the same reason, but—not because of him.

"The easiest form of containment is having Seiji-senpai turn them into meatballs," I said after a moment.

I glanced at the boy to my right, tugging at the sleeves of my uniform in frustration and worry. Frustrated because I could tell he still felt shaken up by the conversation with Yoarashi, which had been in part encouraged by my rather insensitive words. Worried because I knew he was a much better person than me. I would've dropped the confrontation before it even began just to stubbornly prove a point, like I almost did during my match with Deku.

Todoroki was obstinate, and if it came down to it, he would fight back because he believed he was worth it.

And he was.

 _For him._

"Leave it to me," Seiji-senpai said, nodding curtly. "I should add, however, that Utsushimi won't be able to maintain the illusion from a distance."

Twirling a lock of hair on her finger, Camie-senpai shrugged. "I'll just go with one of the groups in charge of rounding up the rest of the squad."

"I doubt we can find the others in time with the three minutes I have left using this Quirk," Monoma pointed out, rolling his eyes.

" _We_ can't," Ochako said, grinning slightly. "But I bet you have a few friends who can give us a bird's eye view, right, Kōda-kun?"

Kōda perked up at that, bobbing his head and giving her a thumbs up. I noticed Deku turn to look at the opening Shiozaki had made in her rampage, his brows strewn together in concentration. Just as I was about to ask what was on his mind, Bakugou scoffed and started stalking towards that direction, fists clenched at his sides.

"I'll take Tails and Manju," Bakugou said, cracking his knuckles on the way out.

 _Manju? Like from the card—_

Despite the current circumstances, I couldn't help the snort that slipped out of my mouth. "Remind me to properly comment on that after this is over."

"I'll go with mister King of Games here," Kirishima grinned, discreetly giving me a hi-five before catching up to the blond flipping us off behind his back.

"Isn't Hagakure the invisible girl?" Honenuki asked, flashing his own grin when Momo responded with a nod. "My range for my Quirk is wider now thanks to the work I put in during my internship. Even if I can't see her, I'm pretty sure I can soften enough ground to trap her in some quicksand."

"We'll come," Kaibara added.

Tsubaraba gave a thumbs up. "Between the four of us, we can take Yanagi and this Ashido person, too."

"Four?" Ochako echoed, eyeing the diminutive degenerate snoring on top of an unfortunately sheltered rock. "Are you guys just going to leave him there?"

"Yes," Seiji-senpai replied on their behalf, taking a step toward the unsuspecting pervert. I didn't have it in me to feel sorry for Mineta despite recognizing the tone in our senior's voice, even less so when Seiji-senpai glared down at him. "Insufferable as that blond brat might be, I was mistaken when I said I hate people like him the most. More than anything else, I despise corrupt debauchees like this one."

"I can take care of Asui-san," Momo said, ignoring the shriek that came from Mineta right before I was certain he'd been turned into a meatball. I bit back a smile. "Would you like to come with me, Uraraka-san, Rei?"

"Sure," Ochako agreed, blinking in surprise and then giving the other girl a glowing smile.

"I should help look for the others," I told them, regretfully shaking my head. "I'll probably be more useful there since the other team's base is near a lake."

The warmth at my side suddenly felt closer than before, and I looked up to find Todoroki beside me, albeit facing the opposite direction. His shoulder brushed mine, but he didn't bother moving away, and somehow I knew what he meant by the action or lack thereof.

Loneliness wasn't a disease, but it festered like one, spread through veins like the plague because it didn't have to depend on any other emotion to carry its weight. A person could be sad and lonely or angry and lonely or any other emotion and lonely. After what had been said to him, I'd understand if he felt more than a little overwhelmed.

"Ready?" I asked.

Todoroki nodded, shoulders relaxing just a bit. I thought about the anecdote Yoarashi shared and decided to give him the benefit of a doubt, that Endeavor was cold to him and that Todoroki reacted to his approach in the same way, but that didn't mean he wasn't mistaken. Yoarashi said himself he was hot-blooded and full of zeal, traits that Todoroki wasn't accustomed to handling, much less while preoccupied with something he deemed important.

The marathon was his first shot at stepping away from his father, following his own path to a future that was all his own. Yoarashi was wrong about that, about people changing. Todoroki didn't need to, at least not in the way Yoarashi mentioned, because he was never a reflection of his father in the first place. Todoroki just wanted to find his footing in a world that Endeavor had all but stomped on, leaving footprints in every crevice of the city for him to jump over or fill.

There was little room to create his own unless he found a space somewhere other people didn't already know to look, and therein lay the problem. I thought about All Might, and then I thought about Deku, and finally I thought about everyone striving to become number one. Bakugou. Todoroki. The view at the top might've been worth it, but without some sort of companionship, I supposed it had to feel incredibly lonely.

It was easy to find recognition in solitude, but longing didn't equate desire, and oftentimes humans found themselves wanting things they didn't need. Validation from others was one of them, and when they weren't given that, they ended up not giving it to themselves. It required a specific sort of bravery to find dignity in loneliness, for the most poignant definition that came to mind to describe the feeling was "the want of or longing for intimacy."

Admitting that I was afraid of being alone took years of denial and confrontations with other people and myself that I would've never dreamed of having before enrolling at Yūei, and the only reason I got that far was because Deku made the confession first. Telling someone, "I feel lonely," and having them there was nice, but it didn't feel quite as secure as hearing them tell you, "I feel lonely, too."

How was it that his eyes still looked so beautiful despite the pain reflected in them?

I thought maybe it was another one of those questions I didn't need answered, but maybe it was something else, something inevitable that I learned to treasure because I learned it from him. Todoroki was beautiful because he was brave, and he was brave because he could admit that he didn't want to be alone either.

"Would you consider transferring to Shiketsu?" Todoroki asked suddenly, or maybe not so suddenly when I looked back at the events of the day.

For a moment, I imagined a beige-ish white universe in which no one ever felt lonely, and therefore never wanting or longing for any semblance of intimacy from friends, family, lovers, even strangers at the coffee shop down the street. It was ironic, sure, but very true, that a world without loneliness would be an incredibly isolated one.

I didn't have to think twice about my response.

"Not in a million years."

* * *

Shouto felt a disturbance in the atmosphere just as the second year from Shiketsu turned the last of the infected zombies into balls of flesh. It was like a light bulb flickered in his head, suddenly and incessantly, telling him that something was very, very wrong. He looked at Higuchi by instinct, to see if she knew what was happening and check if she was alright, but the sight that greeted him was far from welcoming.

Perhaps the worst part was that none of them expected it, him least of all.

A student from Class 1-B, the girl with the poltergeist Quirk, managed to escape her classmates and take control of one of their own. Higuchi had been the farthest from the group, isolated in the middle of the lake after practically single-handedly incapacitating the remainder of the zombies with a patent field advantage, and that alone left her the most vulnerable to possession.

"Snap out of it, Rei!"

Kirishima called out to her first, and she rewarded him with a water whip that turned into solid strip of ice at the last second. His hardened body hurtled into a tree with enough force to leave a crater on the bark.

"Get a fucking grip, Guppy!" Bakugou snapped, launching into the air with his right hook reared and ready to release an innocuous explosion.

Higuchi shielded herself with a frozen escutcheon and then sent it careening towards him with a flick of her wrist. Bakugou threw his arms behind him and shot up higher to avoid the attack, but the buckler dispersed into dozens of sharp icicles pointed in his direction. As the crystallized knives fired at the blond like a barrage of bullets, a heavy gust of wind blew the ice away.

Bakugou let out a string of curses as he started flying away with the pieces, but Dark Shadow managed to catch him in time. Higuchi, crimson eyes glazed into an abyss of tourmaline, pinpointed the source of the distraction and propelled a massive wave at the Shiketsu first year scrambling to soar out of the way.

 _He's not going to make it._

Shouto didn't think twice about producing another elephantine glacier to combat the tides. The water sloshed against the ice, and from the corner of his eye, he noticed Yoarashi look down at him with dilated, disbelieving eyes. In the same breath, the ice began melting into its liquid state, slowly swirling until Higuchi stood at the center of the storm, the soles of her feet hovering above the surface of the lake.

"It doesn't look like she's conscious," Shinsō said, looking up at the dome of water taking shape before them. "Even if I tried to use my Quirk, there's no way she'll be able to respond."

"I can't get close enough to use mine," the Shiketsu second year added, eyes narrowed into even smaller slits.

"How long is Yanagi-san able to maintain her possession?" Yaoyorozu asked, turning to one of the students from Class 1-B with urgency.

The black haired boy Shouto didn't know, but recalled seeing Higuchi speak to a few times, frowned. "Ten minutes, at best."

"With all of this water, Rei could flood the forest in half that time," Midoriya said, biting his lip. "We need to find a way to contain it."

"Wouldn't she just pull more moisture from the plants?" Kaminari asked, looking up at the plethora of leaves above their heads.

Yaoyorozu rapidly shook her head. "Like Shinsō-san said, Rei isn't consciously using her Quirk, which means she isn't capable of concentrated techniques."

"Todoroki-kun can use his flames," Uraraka suggested. "I'm sure they're hot enough to evaporate the liquid."

 _My flames?_

"That could work," Midoriya admitted, sparing him a thoughtful glance. "Yanagi-san is technically the one causing this in her zombified state, and like Yaoyorozu-san said, she doesn't know how to use Rei's Quirk to its full potential, which means the leftover mist will be essentially useless to her."

"Isn't that kind of risky?" Kirishima asked. "I mean, using fire in the middle of all this greenery while the one person who'd have a chance of putting out any accidents is," he glanced at Higuchi and winced. "Well, that?"

Shouto started collecting the heat in his left side before the redhead finished his sentence. The last time he used this much fire was during his match against Bakugou, and he had been fueled by anger and the resolve to prove everyone who looked down on him that he was worthy of such a Quirk simply because it was his power to own.

 _This is different._

He had no ire in his movements nor a sense of fury to facilitate his flames, but his resolve was present and stronger than ever. Using his Quirk to help Higuchi was parallel to his aspirations of saving those in need with his right and left sides. Embers emitting from his fist illuminated his expression while his arm stretched to extend the wisps towards the edge of the lake, hissing as it made contact with the water.

"I can do this."

The temperature in the area must've risen a few degrees due to the blistering conflagration, scorching the dome of liquid until steam began rising from its surface. Higuchi, unaware of her surroundings and therefore unaware that it was him, coiled her arms in an attempt to douse the flames.

"There's too much water!" Midoriya shouted.

Shouto suddenly felt the ghost of a touch on his shoulder. To his bewilderment, the blond from Class 1-B had taken the liberty of stealing his Quirk and wordlessly combined the borrowed flames with his own. It looked like a fraction of the intensity radiating from the inferno Shouto created, but it provided enough help to level with the waves and speed up the vaporization process. And then, adding to his wonderment, a burst of wind came from seemingly out of nowhere.

"We just gotta spread the flames, right?" Yoarashi exclaimed, hovering above them on a cloud of air. "This should do the trick!"

Yoarashi released another squall, directly colliding with the flames and scooping up every last bit until a funnel of fire formed with Higuchi in the epicenter. Using the last of his energy, Shouto willed himself to use his right side in tandem with his left to create barriers around the trees in the immediate area and protect them from the blaze. The others put up what must've been a fireproof sheet, courtesy of Yaoyorozu, along the sections he couldn't reach, while one of the kids from Class 1-B created multiple screens made of solid air.

"Keep going, guys!" Uraraka cheered. "It's working!"

It took another minute for the liquid to evaporate, blanketing the forest with clouds of smoke and steam. Monoma ceased with the flames as Yoarashi landed on the ground beside him, and Shouto fell to his knees in exhaustion, trying to see through the fog in search for his friend. The sun, dappling through the apertures of the branches above them, provided a spotlight on the empty cavity where the lake once sat.

In the middle stood Higuchi, inky strands of hair cascading down her back like ocean waves in the still of the night, dark and dreary irises slowly fading back to a brilliant crimson. Shouto heard a cough from somewhere behind him and numbly turned his head to find that Yanagi had also reverted back into her normal state, zombie-esque features smoothing out into familiar human attributes.

The second year from Shiketsu raised a brow at the transformation and promptly snapped his fingers, reversing the effects of his Quirk on the mess of lumps scattered on the ground. One by one, they turned into people Shouto knew or vaguely recognized, all but confirming that the effects of the virus itself had finally dissipated.

A gloved hand suddenly appeared in front of him, and Shouto looked up in surprise to see that it belonged to Yoarashi. Though he didn't know him well or even at all, Shouto had only ever seen jubilant or downright seething expressions on his face, a far cry from the somber, almost sheepish countenance he displayed at the moment.

"You hate me," Shouto said.

Yoarashi flinched.

 _Did I not read him correctly?_

"Straight to the point, eh?" Yoarashi said, ducking his head. "You saved me back there, didn't you? What kind of guy would I be if I didn't thank you for that?"

Shouto stared at him, slightly baffled. "Do you only talk in questions?"

"That's all you gotta say after all of that?" Yoarashi asked, blinking in incredulity.

"No," Shouto said, directing his gaze to the palm offered to him. Slowly, he extended his own, allowing the taller boy to pull him up. "I should thank you for your help, too."

"That's all in a day's work!" Yoarashi grinned, fumbling with the skewed hat atop his head. "Honestly, I still kinda don't like you."

"Oh."

"Yeah, sorry about that," Yoarashi said, chuckling a bit. "I don't hate you, though. It was pretty cool of you to step up and help your girlfriend."

 _My girl friend?_

Shouto nodded to himself in cognizance, instinctively looking over at the girl friend in question. Yaoyorozu and Uraraka flanked her sides, supporting her balance as she stumbled to stand, and Shouto couldn't help but frown in guilt. Higuchi must have been severely dehydrated after overusing her Quirk in the midst of all the heat.

"Go ahead," Yoarashi said, jerking his head in her direction. "I'll help Shishikura-senpai and Utsushimi-senpai with the rest of your classmates."

Shouto looked at him again, a little more understanding and a little more confused at the same time. He didn't know how a person could dislike someone and in some way still care. Or did he? The image of his father appeared in his mind, ruthless and implacable on his worst days, igniting a spark within him. Flickers of anger, perhaps, but despite everything, no hatred in his heart.

"Thanks," Shouto said.

 _You've put a lot of things into perspective today, Yoarashi Inasa._

His footsteps sounded heavy against the muddy slopes leading to the gaping hole once filled to the brim with water, but somehow the burden on his shoulders felt lighter than before. Once he was close enough, Shouto heard Bakugou dropping expletives as easily as his explosions, complaining about having nearly been stabbed a dozen times over.

"Don't fucking do that _again_ —"

"Yes," Higuchi said dryly. "Because I wanted to be possessed."

Yaoyorozu stifled her giggles with the back of her hand, and Uraraka grinned, teasing, "Kacchan was just worried about you, Rei!"

"You fucking—"

"We all were," Midoriya said, shaking his head with a smile. "I'm glad it's actually over now."

"Hey, Todoroki!" Kirishima exclaimed, bringing a hand above his head to wave him over. "You're totally the MVP!"

Higuchi looked up at the sound of his name and effortlessly met his gaze. Her eyes glowed in the sunlight, but Shouto couldn't discern the emotion in their depths. _Gratitude? Relief?_ _Happiness?_ It was all of that and something else. Despite the fact that he couldn't be bothered to put much thought into it due to his depleting adrenaline rush, Shouto decided that he didn't mind the look at all.

"MVP, huh?" Higuchi said, lips curving into a small smile of her own.

Shouto shrugged, recalling the words uttered to him just minutes earlier. "All in a day's work."

"My hero."

The sobriquet spilled out of her mouth with ease. It was said lightly, teasingly, and Shouto could tell it was meant as just another quip to fuel their usual banter, but the last time he heard those words, he sat in his mother's embrace, smiling, _happy_ —

" _My hero, Shouto!"_

He didn't know how long they stood there, but it was long enough for the others to start the trek back to the rest of their classmates, and long enough for Higuchi to grow flustered from the attention he unwittingly gave her. As expected, however, it seemed she caught the shift in the mood of the conversation, tilting her head the way she would tell him he always did whenever he was curious about something. Maybe that was why he predicted a question.

"Sorry," Higuchi said.

And maybe because it wasn't, Shouto couldn't seem to prepare a coherent reply.

"I didn't defend you when Yoarashi was saying all of those things," she murmured. "And it was partly my fault he felt provoked enough to confront you in the first place."

"I asked if I did something to him," Shouto said, taking her silence as his cue to continue speaking. "He wasn't completely wrong when he said I did."

"He could've been completely right and I still would've argued with him."

"Why?"

"Because Yoarashi was talking about the Todoroki he met in the past, and I'm talking about the Todoroki I know now."

Shouto frowned, trying to fit the pieces together. "What's the difference?"

"The differences are pretty obvious," Higuchi said, humming in thought. "I think it's more important to note that the Todoroki he met then and the Todoroki in front of me now are one and the same. You might be taking a different approach to reach your goal, but that goal hasn't changed, right? You want to be a Hero."

Shouto nodded firmly, and Higuchi smiled. It was at that moment did the rest of the puzzle start to make sense. He wasn't upset or angry at that Shiketsu second year specifically, not because he called her by her first name, and certainly not because he knew her longer than Shouto did. Shouto was just afraid that he wasn't as good of a friend to her than he realized, that he didn't deserve her, that he'd be left alone again.

And he really didn't want to be alone.

"If it's any consolation, I wasn't kidding," Higuchi said, looking at him with that same expression. "As far as Heroes go, Shouto, you're one of mine."

* * *

The students that had been infected with the virus and subsequently turned into meatballs by Seiji-senpai had been checked out by Recovery Girl and cleared with no more than an earful about being hopelessly rash. I took the brunt of the lecture after emptying the lake in my possessed rampage, not so much because of any injuries inflicted or sustained, but because the cost to replace it was exceptionally exorbitant.

I was two seconds away from dropping to my knees and begging Kan-oji not to tell mom until he pointed out that Todoroki could've just produced another glacier and have me convert it into water.

"You could've started with that," I grumbled at him.

Speaking of Todoroki, he looked considerably lighter than he had when the day began. I saw him talking to Yoarashi rather civilly after Yanagi released me from her possession, and though I didn't bother asking him what happened, I figured the conversation did him some good. For that reason and more, I made a point to personally apologize to the Shiketsu first year when I had the chance.

Momo and I stood outside of the locker rooms waiting for Bakugou to finish getting dressed. Since I ranked third in our class alongside the blond, Aizawa-sensei asked us to accompany our vice president in bidding our guests a proper farewell. Most of our friends had already made their way back to our classroom with some of the boys stopping to inform us that the bomber was in the middle of an argument against the kid from Isamu. I should've known that was the reason he took so long to change.

I spent the better half of the delay staring at the scuffs on my shoes, my back slack against the wall. Momo was perfectly still beside me, but after a while she started fidgeting, tugging at her skirt or the hem of her blazer. Curious and a bit concerned, I glanced at her from the corner of my eye.

Momo in general wasn't the type that felt a need to fill the silence. The two of us had grown used to spending our time together either in quietude, usually with her reading and me drawing doodles on any random scrap of paper I could find, or in the midst of a scintillating conversation. Awkward bouts of noiselessness didn't fit anywhere in between.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Momo shifted her gaze from the ground to me and then back at the ground. I noticed she had a habit of shying away from eye contact that lasted longer than a few seconds, and perhaps unbeknownst to her, I spent the past few weeks trying to break her out of that. It took her those few seconds to collect herself, but once she did, she lifted her head to look at me directly, and I awarded her with the most encouraging smile I could muster.

"I wanted to thank you," she said, hands clasped together as she bent forward at her waist.

"Thank me for what?"

"It was not lost on me what you tried to do for me today and every other day we spend together," Momo said, straightening to her full height. It was hardly noticeable, but she was a centimeter taller than me, and situations like this one, mundane but somehow out of the ordinary, always seemed to make little details like that stand out more than usual. "I wouldn't have had the confidence to speak up for myself if you hadn't been there to guide me."

"I'm not qualified to guide anyone," I said, looking up at the ceiling in thought. "I think it's just a natural inclination to learn from the best."

Momo frowned, brows furrowed in confusion. "I don't quite understand what you mean."

"You and I have a lot of the same insecurities, and I feel like it's easier to help other people with things I recognize as weaknesses in my own self instead of trying to fix it within me," I smiled a bit humorlessly, shaking my head. "Kind of spineless, huh?"

"Of course not!" Momo exclaimed, affronted. "I never expected you to be perfect, Rei, but please forgive me when I say it's difficult to digest the thought of you sharing my diffidence. If that is the case, however, then I understand your motives behind wanting to run away from our problems. I'm not," she sighed, lowering her head. "I'm not the best at confrontation."

I laughed at that, not loudly, but ardently, as I did at most things drenched in irony. "Trust me, Momo, neither am I."

"I do," she said, lips quirking into a small smile of her own. "That's precisely why I felt it was right to thank you for always trusting me in return. It's only been a day, but I can already feel Iida-san's lack of presence in the classroom, and I wasn't sure how to go about leading our class in his absence."

"You're our vice president for a reason," I said, looking at the door marked Class 1-A down the hall.

Despite the soundproof walls, I heard the ceaseless chatter from the open entrance with a few spells of laughter sprinkled in between. It didn't completely occur to me how much I had missed being here until that moment.

"I know," Momo said, cheeks flushed in bashful embarrassment. "And that's why I knew you had to be the first person I told. I want to be the best vice president I can possibly be for our class, but I have to be the best version of myself first. That means having to put in the work to achieve my goals."

I could tell where the conversation was headed and held my breath in excitement. At some point during our internships, before anything related to the League of Villains ever crossed our paths, I texted Momo about my unexpected encounter with two of the infamous Big Three and delved into a lengthy rigmarole about how Amajiki-senpai's manifest Quirk seemed to be a vague variation of her creation. It was a fleeting suggestion that I thought had been lost in our messages, but—

"I took your advice," Momo said. "I asked Amajiki-san to help with my training as we prepare for our license exams, and he agreed."

"That's incredible," I said, unable to contain my grin. "Momo, seriously, that's amazing! Amajiki-senpai was talking about potatoes when I first met him," a flurry of giggles escaped her and I knew she understood what I meant. That just made it even better. "Is it weird to say I'm proud of you both?"

"He was rather persistent about standing an odd distance away," Momo said, all but beaming now. "I recall you expressing interest in training with him some time, and he said you're more than welcome to join us whenever you're available."

My grin slipped as I stared at her in surprise, breath caught in the back of my throat. The Big Three rarely, if ever, adopted mentees during the semester, much less with final exams around the corner. For Amajiki-senpai to not only consider Momo as one, but outright accept, meant that he thought training with her was worth it, and I couldn't have agreed with the sentiment more.

And I wasn't kidding about being proud of both of them. I had an ever growing list of mentors that I could've turned to for advice, and though I was grateful to know that I had the honor of including Amajiki-senpai on that list, I was more stunned by the fact that Momo remembered something I briefly mentioned in passing.

Looking at her like this, smiling and vivid and so kind, I wondered how I could've been envious of someone who only ever helped make _me_ better. That, in addition to the thought of Momo working up the courage to corner Amajiki-senpai in the middle of the hallway, prompted me to let out an excited laugh, unabashedly loud this time.

 _You are so cool, Momo._

* * *

The day ended on a high note, all things considered. Aizawa-sensei made both Bakugou and the kid from Isamu, Fujimi Romero, apologize to both classes for causing such a ruckus in the halls, mostly to each other even though they weren't all that loud in the first place. Truth be told, I figured he just did that to benefit his own amusement.

I stood by the main gates of the school next to Momo and Bakugou on her other side. The three of us had patches in random areas after a full afternoon of nonstop scuffles, basking in the state of calm that hadn't been present until that moment. Following the protocol of formalities, Seiji-senpai, flanked by Camie-senpai and Yoarashi in front of us, tipped his hat forward.

"Thank you very much for hosting us today, Yaoyorozu-san," Seiji-senpai said, immediately adjusting the cap on his head and folding his hands behind his back.

Momo smiled and bowed a full ninety degrees, which I was sure impressed him considerably since the blond on her other side merely gave the trio a sideways glance.

"It was our pleasure, Shishikura-san," she said. "On behalf of Yūei, please accept our sincerest apologies for any inconvenience."

Yoarashi let out an excited shout, pumping a fist into the air. "It was definitely a hot-blooded experience!"

"What he said," Camie-senpai winked, flashing a genuine grin. "I haven't had that much fun at a training exercise in a hot minute!"

I noticed Bakugou roll his eyes from the corner of my eye and tried to give him a chary look, but the tallest of the bunch caught the minuscule movement and redirected his smile to me. It, and a handful of his other mannerisms, reminded me distinctly of a certain redhead.

"Sorry about all the drama today, Higuchi!" Yoarashi said, laughing sheepishly. "Even though I still don't really like him, I talked things over with your boyfriend, and he's not that—"

" _Boyfriend?_ "

My head whipped towards Momo and Bakugou, who had interrupted the Shiketsu first year with unified shouts of disbelief, and then at Yoarashi himself. I frowned in confusion and mild irritation at him for apparently lying through his teeth until I recalled the image of him speaking to Todoroki after the fight.

 _This is not happening._

Jaw dropping and feeling my cheeks heat up profusely, I shook my head several times, and then several times after that. It didn't help that the last words I said to Todoroki started echoing in my mind like a broken record player.

"He's not," I made an indistinct gesture with my hand and let it drop to my side when I realized it did nothing to help. "I don't have—"

Seiji-senpai quirked a brow, and I almost asked him to turn me into a meatball right then and there. "Yoarashi never said a name, but you seem to know precisely who he is speaking of."

"Are you talking about the guy with the red and white hair?" Camie-senpai asked, tapping a finger to her chin. "He's a real dreamboat! No wonder you're blushing so much!"

"I am not blushing," I denied, stubbornly crossing my arms. "And I don't have a boyfriend. I saw them talking earlier and deduced through simple process of elimination that Yoarashi-san must have been speaking of—"

"What?" Yoarashi asked, brows furrowed. "Was I wrong? He didn't deny it when I mentioned you being his girlfriend earlier."

I heard a giggle and turned to find Momo laughing into the back of her hand. Bakugou had his slapped over his mouth, and holding in his own cackles brought him closer to death than I had ever seen him. As I wondered if I ended up living in some kind of stimulation where I had both _Seiji-senpai_ and _Bakugou_ tease me about a crush, I saw the illusion Camie-senpai casted in my distraction. A perfect replica of Todoroki save for the princely outfit and red rose between his teeth.

"That is not funny," I grumbled, throwing my head back with a groan. "Please, Camie-senpai, get rid of that before someone sees it and I'm forced to move to another country."

"You're cute, Higuchi," Camie-senpai grinned, dispelling the mirage with a wave of her hand.

Yoarashi let out an unabashed chortle, palms slapping against his knees. "That was a good one, Utsushimi-senpai!"

"I fuckin' know, right?" Bakugou snorted, arms circling around his stomach. "The damn flower made it even funnier!"

I exhaled deeply through my nose and bit the inside of my cheek in silent mortification, but seeing them so happy even if it was at my expense had me smiling in spite of myself. Momo laughed again, looping her arm through mine, and that was enough to break my steely defenses. I still had something I wanted to say, after all.

"I wanted to apologize, too, Yoarashi-san."

The Shiketsu first year halted his guffaws, lashes fluttering as he blinked quickly, reminiscent to a butterfly drifting along his wind.

"I shouldn't have meddled in your business," I said, dipping my head. "And for that, I'm sorry."

"Nah," Yoarashi said, offering me his signature grin. "You were just lookin' out for Todoroki! He might not be your boyfriend, but I can tell he's important to ya, and I can't blame you for that!"

"Touching," Seiji-senpai said dully, but he hardly fought back a smirk at the spike in saturation on my face. "As much as I hate to break up the fun, it's time for us to take our leave," he nodded at me. "It was good to see you, Reiko. I presume your next schedule will be at I Island?"

I sobered and nodded back at him, smiling more so to myself at the reminder. "My mother was invited, but since she's busy, I'll be coming in her stead."

"You're going to I Island?" Momo asked, surprise lining her features. "My family was invited along to that as well!"

"What the fuck is 'I Island?'" Bakugou asked, his snickers dissipating into a puzzled stare.

Seiji-senpai clicked his tongue for the umpteenth time that day. "Of course _you_ wouldn't know."

"Say that again, prick—"

"I'd explain, but you are going to be late," I said, looking at Seiji-senpai. "And you," I nudged the blond, rolling my eyes when he swatted me away. "Are definitely going to end up with an invite, which means someone else will have to explain it to you, anyway."

"Him?" Seiji-senpai scoffed.

"Bakugou placed first at the entrance exams and was runner up at the Sports Festival," I said, unbothered by the incontestable pride in my tone. "I'd sue if he wasn't invited."

"Tactful as ever," Seiji-senpai said, rolling his eyes. "Very well. I wish you all luck in your endeavors," he gave Bakugou a pointed stare. "Even you, brat."

The blond held up his sizzling palms in warning, but Seiji-senpai had since turned on his heel and started making his way towards the expensive looking shuttle parked in front of the school. Camie-senpai twiddled her fingers in a wave, while Yoarashi flailed his arm above his head, enthusiastically shouting his goodbye.

"See you soon, Yūei!"

* * *

 **postscript**

to be completely transparent, i struggled a lot starting this chapter (or continuing it, depending on whether you consider this part of the last), mostly because i felt like i've been writing to impress instead of writing for myself. it doesn't mean i don't care about what you guys think of the story, but there's something kind of lethargic about feeling more nervous or afraid about updating than i am excited to share my work, you know? that said, i decided to really take my time on it, and i ended up appreciating the final product more than i realized (this might even be one of my favorite chapters to write so far). i hope it can resonate with you in some way or another, but regardless, please let me know what you think!

the ending note is kind of important this time around, and to be honest, the only reason I'm not continuing announcements here is because i just came home from eating korean BBQ and i'm too sleepy to properly use commas. i wish you luck trying to decipher the rest of my rambling ˚✧₊⁎( ˘ω˘ )⁎⁺˳✧༚ thank you for reading!

* * *

I REALLY SOLD MY SOUL TO FINISH THIS CHAPTER

idk i've been in a rut lately and if u follow my tumblr (jngsjngs. tumblr. com) then u kinda already heard this but anyway i just feel like i've been so focused on the numbers like fulfilling a certain word count, achieving a certain number of reviews, the ratios of favs and follows, all that shallow stuff, that i haven't been as motivated to write bc i end up thinking _what r u even doing this for everyone is going to hate it anyway_

which is dumb bc u guys are seriously the kindest ppl and i'm grateful everyday for all of the messages u send me here or on ao3 or tumblr or whatever (i haven't even had time to reply to the reviews from the last two chapters bc i've been sulking lmao why am i like this) the point is ilu guys but ok back to me being emo,

the theme of this chapter was never initially supposed to be about loneliness mostly bc this is an ova and i didn't rly intend for it to have a theme outside of the todoroki/yoarashi thing at all but i guess a lot of what i was feeling personally (what i've _been_ feeling bc loneliness comes n goes) bled onto the pages and sort of just stained them with these words

i feel like even as the writer of this story i learned a lot about rei and todoroki and their dynamic, and rei and momo on top of that which is amazing bc i wrote that bit at the end in literally fifteen minutes and added it into the chapter right before posting (this chapter was supposed to end at the _my hero_ thing lol frick more on that in a second) that said i was juggling a lot of characters so i didn't get to include a scene w rei and monoma which i would've liked to do but he's definitely going to make an appearance soon (he helped todoroki help rei to pay his debt to her i love friendship that's not really friendship but is nice anyway)

I HOPE U GUYS ENJOYED THE TODOREIKO CONTENT I RLY DIED WRITING IT I CAN'T BELIEVE SHE SAID MY HERO no she's not calling todoroki "shouto" yet, she said it bc that's literally his hero name too lmao but we all know it was self indulgent and she just wanted to say it again (◡‿◡✿) i'm so excited to write the movie chapter now especially bc i can watch it as opposed to trying to recall scenes from memory (i'd say i have the memory of a goldfish but that's probably insulting to the goldfish)

anyway im sure none of this makes sense bc im not joking when i say im abt to fall asleep any second now but i just wanted to end this note simpling like always bc u guys are the BEST and tumblr has been such a nice space to be in these days with so many of u submitting art and headcanons and just starting conversations in general

i lied i'm gonna end this with an au an anon proposed

hsc characters get transported to the canon bnha universe and are like what? the? when they realize rei doesn't exist in that world!1! i'm definitely going to write this out someday but there are already a bunch of headcanons on tumblr if u wanna take a gander (½ OF TODOREIKO PLAYLIST WILL BE UP TOMORROW)

this chapter was not edited fully so i apologize for any grammatical errors until i can fix it tomorrow mornign lulz ok that's all goodnight everyone thank u so much for reading ilu


	22. Rear View

No copyright infringement intended.

* * *

—

 **XII. Rear View**

—

* * *

"Final exams are a week from today."

Groans and whimpers imbued with trepidation and dread filled the already anxious silence that had diffused through the room. I tried to hold back the yawn threatening to escape from my mouth out of respect for my classmates and their very much valid concerns, but Bakugou held no such regard. After letting his own slip and subsequently provoking mine, his fellow blond whirled around to shoot us a dirty look from my other side.

"That is so rude," Kaminari sniffed, leaning over a bit too close for comfort. "I will have you know that some people don't have the privilege to be lax about this matter."

I kicked the base of his seat and idly stared at his attempts to steady himself in unconcealed bemusement. Taking the not so discreet hint, Kaminari lifted his arm off my desk, the frown on his lips turning into one of his perfected puppy pouts as he muttered an equally conspicuous _you guys spend way too much time together_ under his breath.

"The midterm results just came in," Aizawa-sensei said, shuffling a stack of papers with about as much enthusiasm as one would expect from someone who seemed to be constantly on the verge of quitting his day job. "And I have to admit there are quite a few surprises."

"Is that a good thing?" Kirishima whispered, foot tapping incessantly against the tiled floors.

Half turning in my seat, I offered him what I hoped looked like a reassuring smile. "At this point, I feel like Aizawa-sensei is only ever surprised when things go right, so yes, probably."

"That says a lot about our class, doesn't it?" Kirishima grinned back, his nerves simmering down enough to at least halt the shaking. "You and Bakugou must not be worried at all, huh, Rei?"

A sudden projection at the front of the room answered him for me. Displayed across the board was the current class ranking based on our most recent test scores, and both Bakugou and I sat unwavering near the top. As expected, Yaoyorozu maintained the first spot, but I was startled to see our names sandwiched directly between hers and Deku. My eyes scanned the list quickly, almost frantically, from Todoroki rounding up the top five to Tsuyu, Shinsō, Jirō, and so forth until they landed on number eleven.

 _Iida Tenya._

It would've been naive to think that test scores alone accurately summarized one's intelligence. Aside from Principal Nezu, whose Quirk allowed an animal like himself to surpass the mental capacity of most if not all humans, suffice it to say that hard work mattered more than any inherent or measurable quotient. Iida was a prime example of that, but now, for whatever reason, the most diligent person I had the pleasure of knowing went from having the second highest grade in the class to getting knocked out of the top ten completely.

I couldn't help but wonder if Jirō heard the silence in the bated breaths and sighs of horror or relief the same way I did in that moment. It was hard to look at Iida without the risk of drawing attention to myself, but with the same brazen defiance his childhood friend exhibited just a couple of minutes earlier, Deku snapped around from his seat even further up front, and I didn't have to check to know he was staring at our bespectacled classmate.

Iida had been back in school for all of four days after getting discharged from the hospital. Though his behavior was slightly off, I didn't think it was off- _putting_ to the extent of concern until then. As much as I wanted to believe he was just having trouble re-adjusting and that maybe the past few quizzes were some sort of fluke, I had an inkling it dug a little deeper than that, and it bothered me that I had absolutely no idea why.

 _It's classified information for a reason, Reiko,_ I almost heard my mother warn. _Don't get involved._

"What the hell?"

My attention diverted to the pinkette sitting in the back corner of the room. Her piercing shriek gave me an excuse to sneak a glance at Iida and I managed to catch a glimpse of the shadows on his face before immediately ripping my gaze away. It looked like he would've rather been literally anywhere else in the world and I could tell because I'd been in that kind of situation more times than I cared to count. The last thing he needed right now was someone prying into his business.

In contrast, Ashido knocked her chair over in a rush to stand and glared at the board in disbelief. I took a second to skim over the rest of the names and felt my jaw drop in similar astonishment. Her name had gone from its position at nineteen down to dead last, replacing Kaminari's name scrawled beside the number nine.

 _Nine_.

Kaminari Denki was in the top ten of Class 1-A.

It sort of felt like I was trapped in a stimulation that decided to glitch at that exact minute. I could tell the others did their best not to comment on Iida falling so far down the list, but that same courtesy didn't extend to the beaming blond beside me. No, beaming at me was more like it, and despite the gears gyrating in my mind, I felt my mouth curl into a genuine smile in return.

"What the hell?" Sero parroted, looking at Kaminari and then the board and back again. "How did that happen?"

Kirishima frowned in disappointment and I had to commend him for making me feel the need to apologize for something I didn't even do. "You didn't cheat, did you?"

"I'll pretend I'm not offended," Kaminari said, breaking out into another ear-to-ear grin directed at me once again. "Thanks for tutoring me, Rei!"

" _What?_ "

Sero nearly jumped out of his seat this time, gawking at us alongside Ashido and Kirishima. I heard a gruff sigh from the front of the room and knew by the way they plopped back down into their seats that Aizawa-sensei teetered between a little peeved and thoroughly annoyed. Luckily for us (or him, quite frankly), he took the initiative to momentarily slip outside, mumbling a noncommittal _no Quirks in class_ on his way out.

"Is that true?" Jirō asked, brows shooting up to her hairline. "You agreed to tutor him? No blackmail involved?"

"He asked."

"He _asked?_ "

I shrugged, still smiling, but more so out of impish amusement. "There might've been a little begging on his part."

"Just say it," Kaminari said, hanging his head in solemn acquiescence. "I groveled at your feet."

Kaminari asked if I could help him with a couple of problems on an assignment, and I readily agreed thinking it would just be those two questions. It wasn't until we got to the library did I realize it would take a lot more than that to actually help him understand the material, but he must've taken my offer to reschedule as an attempt to escape, because he did, in fact, drop to his knees as soon as I stood from my seat.

To say I was surprised he was a fast learner was one thing, but truthfully I was more taken aback that he kept ranking last in the first place. Kaminari was much smarter than he let on, and though I and a few of our classmates had noticed as much during specific instances in the past, I didn't think much of it until I witnessed him perfectly translate an entire page of English text three days after he flunked the last Language exam.

It was another stark contrast to Iida and the way he seemed to shrink into himself lately. I didn't know if he was aware that I noticed, but I couldn't take a step in his direction without him flinching at the prospect of initiating contact, at times even taking an entire step back. The polite, apologetic smiles I received in return didn't feel ingenuine, per se, though it was obvious that he was faking them to an extent. Every observation led back to the same question.

 _Why?_

"Isn't his brain fuckin' fried?" Bakugou muttered, scoffing as Kaminari stuck his tongue out at the still brooding Ashido.

"No, but after three hours of trying to explain color theory to him," I cringed at the memory. "Mine died a slow and painful death."

"How gutsy of you to keep at it," Kirishima said, teasingly.

Beneath the faint traces of shock in his expression, the readhead looked just as proud of the blond as I did, and the first thought I had that morning that didn't elicit a single ounce of stress was something along the lines of _Kirishima Ejirō is too pure for this world._

Ashido suddenly appeared beside me, hands clasped together in earnest before reaching over to grab mine. I raised a brow in question, fingers twitching as a reflexive response to pull away, but her grip was vise and might've even put Sero's Quirk to shame.

"You've gotta help me out, Rei!"

 _I don't think I'm going to like where this is headed._

"I have no clue what I'm doing," she cried. "And what kind of disappointment would I be to the Hero course if I failed the written exam?"

"You were never concerned about that kind of stuff before," Kirishima said, blinking up at her. I didn't have time to wonder how he knew that bit of information because my hands fell to my lap just as abruptly as they had been picked up.

Ashido pouted in resignation, crocodile tears high and dry. "Yeah, well, my parents are going to ground me for life if I get anything less than a passing grade."

"To be fair, there have been a plethora of strange occurrences since the semester started," Tokoyami said, his cheek propped by a closed fist. "But I doubt that has anything to do with your struggles."

Mildly affronted but also curious, Ashido frowned at him. "Why do you say that?"

"Because there have been a plethora of strange occurrences since the semester started," Shinsō dully repeated. "Aizawa-sensei mentioned that they made the midterms easier to compensate for all the times students had to spend in the hospital instead of studying."

"You mean I failed with a pity curve?" Ashido shrieked, turning to the smug blond beside her. "This is your fault!"

Kaminari carefully nudged the finger aimed at the tip of his nose away from his face. "Don't blame me for blossoming into the butterfly I was always meant to be!"

"You totally just wanted to hangout with Rei," Ashido retorted, stubbornly crossing her arms. "Even though she obviously doesn't like you because she has that thing going on with Bakugou!"

There was no other way to describe my expression aside from absolutely horrified.

I heard the tell-tale sound of Bakugou's fist slamming against his desk and sort of appreciated the shared indignation, but the gasps that accompanied his outburst didn't offer nearly as much comfort. Kirishima and Kaminari looked stunned and for a second I thought Deku's eyes actually popped out of his face. Looking at him, of course, meant I couldn't help but catch sight of the person sitting to his left.

In the midst of the commotion, Todoroki lazily flipped through a textbook, but I could tell when he stopped. His shoulders raised and the slightest turn of his head in my direction revealed a taut jawline the moment he heard Bakugou's name. Though I didn't know if he was bothered so much as he was just caught off guard like the rest of us, it mattered enough that I was bothered by it, and I wanted to make sure I wasn't.

"There is nothing going on between me and Bakugou," I said, shaking my head several times in disbelief. "I can't believe I even had to say that out loud."

Ashido seemed genuinely confused, and that unnerved me more than I wanted to admit. "But I heard you guys went to the hot springs together—"

"For our internship."

"And ferris wheel—"

"For our internship."

"And he calls you guppy! Kirishima gets shitty hair and Kaminari gets pisshead, but he gave you such an adorable nickname!"

I didn't know what urged the next few words to spew out of my mouth, but I had a feeling it had to do with the pair of silver and turquoise now blatantly staring at me. Not to mention the fact that I hadn't thought about how guppy _was_ , in fact, kind of cute.

 _Definitely a simulation._

"He called Ochako by her name!"

Bakugou lunged from his seat. I leapt back to avoid his swipe, slapping a hand over my mouth on his behalf, but the damage was done and the results instantaneous. Ashido looked like Christmas came early. Bakugou was ready to risk it all if it meant disposing of any onlookers. I wanted to jump out of the nearest window.

"Bakugou and Uraraka?" Ashido asked, gleefully looking over at the two in question.

Ochako shook her head and furiously made an X with her arms, cheeks pink in equal embarrassment and exasperation. "No way, _no way!_ "

"Now that you mention it," Kaminari tapped a finger to his chin, having snapped out of his stupor seconds prior. "They spend almost as much time together as Uraraka does with Midoriya."

"Maybe because we're fucking forced to sit together in class, you shitty piece of—"

Shinsō interrupted the raging blond with a noise of disapproval. "Try to keep it down. I'm getting a headache."

Bakugou's mouth snapped shut whereas Ashido and Kaminari opened theirs at the same time, probably to deny the jab about their unnecessarily loud volume. As soon as they uttered a decibel in response, Shinsō smirked. The two blanched in realization a second too late.

"Sit down."

And they obliged.

"No Quirks in class," I chided, teasing and thankful as I regarded him with a small smile.

Shinsō shrugged and turned back around to his conversation with Tokoyami, but not before having the last word. "Wasn't keen on hearing about your overly complicated love lives," he snorted. "Or lack thereof."

"I hate it when he does that," Kaminari groaned, raking his fingers through his growing hair. "Mind control is so cool, but I don't think I'll ever get over how weird it feels."

"You deserved it, dude," Kirishima said, good naturedly slugging him on the shoulder.

"Maybe a little," Kaminari admitted, flashing an apologetic grin. "Sorry, guys, I guess I got kind of carried away. High school is just so—"

"High school?" I finished for him.

Kaminari smirked. "Yeah."

"I'm sorry, too," Ashido said, lifting a hand above her head from her seat on the opposite side of the room. "But I really do need help studying. I promise I'll behave!"

It wasn't that I didn't want to help her. I just didn't feel qualified to actually tutor someone for something as important as final exams. Kaminari was a different story if only because midterms didn't count for as much of our grade and he proved to be quite adept halfway through, but I'd never even had a legitimate conversation with Ashido despite it being months into the semester.

That said, I couldn't think of a way to decline her request without coming across as a snobby bitch.

 _Maybe I am spending too much time with Bakugou._

I winced at my choice of words, but from the corner of my eye I noticed Momo glancing at me with a familiar expression of worry and figured that she thought the microscopic reaction was because of Ashido. Since it wasn't too far off from the truth, I let her take the reins, dipping my head in appreciation when she waved a delicate hand in the air.

"I might be of assistance with the written exams, Ashido-san," Momo said, the corners of her mouth then curving downward almost imperceptibly. "But I'm not sure how much help I'll be in the practical."

A couple of weeks ago I would've thought her dismissal was a result of her insecurities, and a couple of months ago I would've passed on the thought entirely, but I knew that Momo was hesitant solely because of her training schedule with Amajiki-senpai. I was also aware she still had her share of self-doubt, and I couldn't let her miss an opportunity to work on getting over that just to help me out.

"I can help with the practical," I said, trying not to seem too reluctant. Because I wasn't, not if I could help take some of the burden off Momo's shoulders.

Ashido perked up, switching her gaze between the two of us. "Both of you?"

"Yes," Momo said, her smile blooming in full. "And if anyone else is in need of assistance, we can have a study session at my residence this weekend!"

I pondered her statement, slothfully drumming a random song against the table top. It was a no brainer that the Yaoyorozu estate would be massive, probably larger than mine and Todoroki's combined, but I had never actually been there and the thought of being in someone else's home for something as all consuming as training didn't sit too well in my stomach.

"We could have it at mine?" I offered, biting the inside of my cheek. The cons were obvious, but in this situation, the pros far outweighed them. "If that's alright—"

"I'm in," Kaminari said, lips splitting into an innocent smile.

Ashido glowered at him. "You had your turn!"

"Not at her house!"

"Boys are incorrigible!"

"Mind if I tag along?" Kirishima asked, turning to me with sparkling eyes. _Does he even realize it's impossible to say no to that?_ "I've always wanted to spar with you!"

"Not at all," I said. "I can help with academics, too, as long as it isn't—"

"Math?"

"Yeah, no."

"Don't worry about it," Kirishima laughed, leaning forward to pat my head. "Bakugou promised to help me out!"

I stiffened at the contact, but relaxed almost immediately thereafter and noted that his skin was remarkably soft despite his Quirk. In hindsight, though, it was probably because of his hardening that his body seemed to be free of any calluses.

"I fucking did not," Bakugou said, glaring at him. "Why should I have to put in more work just 'cause you have shit for brains?"

Kirishima flashed him that same grin and those same eyes and I knew that even Bakugou, or perhaps especially Bakugou, wasn't immune to his prowess. "Please?"

"Just come over again when everyone else does," I said, ignoring the sneer redirected to me. From the corner of my eye, I noticed a certain pinkette twitch before abruptly humming a nameless tune and frowned. "Todoroki and Shinsō were there, too."

"I didn't say anything," Ashido protested, but a sly smile curved at the corners of her mouth. "Hypothetically speaking, though, why exactly were all of these eligible bachelors at your humble abode?"

The correct answer was _we almost died and they needed somewhere safe to stay_ , but probably not the most sensible when our opponents included some of the most highly ranked Villains from the past decade we legally couldn't engage in the first place.

"Plead the fifth," Shinsō muttered.

I gave him a pointed look. "Because I was definitely going to divulge the details of that shitstorm."

"Can I come over, too?" Jirō asked, leaning over to catch my eye from behind Ochako's shoulder. "I'm not on the brink of failing or anything, but I have some questions about quadratic equations if Bakugou is going to be helping out with math."

"When the fuck did I—"

"Of course."

" _Bitch_ —"

"Same here," Sero said, latching his hands together behind his head. "I'm not exactly failing, but I guess that isn't any better than, you know, actually failing. Either of you okay with extensive Japanese literature?"

"That's one of Todoroki's best subjects."

I said that less like a reply and more like an absentminded comment, but if Sero found it odd or out of place, he didn't mention it. "Mind helping me out, Todoroki?"

"I don't mind," Todoroki said, dutifully shaking his head.

The traces of discomfort in his expression disappeared as Todoroki averted his gaze to mine. His head tilted to the side, and I didn't hesitate to nod. Despite my insistence that he was welcome again any time, I knew it was his way of asking for permission to come over.

"That's, like, almost half the class," Jirō mentioned, brows furrowed. "Are you sure your parents will be alright with that?"

I didn't fail to notice the spark of curiosity in her eyes when my heart started palpitating and sucked in a deep breath to calm myself. The less rational side of my brain felt like I'd been robbed of a secret I tried desperately to keep, but I knew it was beyond her control. Mustering another smile, I nodded again, and that seemed to be enough for her.

"Does anyone else want to come?" I asked.

Deku stared intently at something over my shoulder and it didn't take a genius to guess why. Luckily, Bakugou just shot him a hard look that I decided to decipher later and buried his face into his arms, all but ignoring the ruckus around him. Despite his puzzlement at the blond's unusually temperate behavior, Deku grinned only a little bit anxiously and bobbed his head.

"Yeah," Deku said, curls bouncing. "That'd be great!"

I matched his smile and slowly let my eyes drift to the other side of the room. Iida sat at his desk, back slouched and staring out the window instead of keeping a watchful eye on the class like usual. I didn't feel inclined to ask him to join since I figured he would've spoken up if he wanted to come. In fact, I expected it, but he didn't, and I wondered if those counted as the first and second of many signs.

Iida suddenly turned his head and I stared at him for a long second, unfaltering, but he merely smiled back before staring out the window again. A rush of something passed over me. Relief? I was relieved that he was still capable of smiling despite how hollow it appeared. Fear? I was afraid that he was only capable of those smiles _because_ they all looked hollow.

By definition, the word "hollow" meant "without significance," and its list of synonyms included empty, futile, pointless. Third strike. Iida Tenya always did things with meaning.

Or he used to.

* * *

"I knew it."

Bakugou snatched the comic in my hands, flipping his spare middle finger at me. He was the first to get to my house with the excuse that it meant he'd be able to leave earlier than the rest, but when I pointed out that he could've not come in the first place, I was rewarded with a string of expletives that extended all the way to my kitchen.

Less surprising than his willingness to help our classmates or offhanded decision to make lunch was his plan to reread a few chapters of _One Piece_ until it was time to bring out the pots and pans. Of course, the concept of Bakugou cooking and cooking well at that stopped being a novelty ages ago, but that didn't mean I expected him to cook an entire meal for people whose names he hardly cared enough to remember.

"You don't know shit," Bakugou said.

"I had you pegged as a _Bleach_ kind of guy for all of two seconds before deciding your favorite fictional character is probably someone like Portgas D. Ace."

"…"

"I'm right, aren't I?" I said, taking a glass out from a cupboard above the stove.

Bakugou frowned, looking at me from behind the pages of Volume 89. "How do you know him?"

"How do _you_ know him?"

He held up the manga in his hands and gave me a look that very clearly read _duh, idiot._ I shrugged, unbothered, then slid the glass towards him, filling it to the brim with a flick of my wrist. The motion I made at him afterwards just as plainly said _well, there's your answer_.

"Bullshit," Bakugou snorted, throwing a hand out to catch the crystalware before it hit the ground. "I bet you're a fuckin' _Naruto_ fan, huh? Must be one of the reasons why you picked Edgeshot for your damn internship."

"It was your internship, too," I said, this time not bothering to hide my amusement.

The doorbell rang just as I thought of the perfect retort, but I decided not to deliver the final blow until he brought the glass of water to his mouth.

"Nice guess, Ace."

My smile spread across my cheeks once I heard the cough and spluttering behind me. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw that Bakugou had indeed done a proper spit take on our kitchen island and let out an unapologetic laugh on the way to the front door. Knowing him, it'd be clean by the time I came back with our new guest regardless of whether or not the blond was actually irritated, though I could say with certainty that he wasn't.

 _Ace, huh?_

 _I might just have to keep using that._

* * *

Hair slightly damp due to the light drizzle outside, a beaming Momo greeted me the second I opened the door. I figured the rain wasn't too bad if she deemed it unnecessary to create an umbrella or some kind of hood for cover, but I took the liberty of extracting any excess moisture from her person, stifling a grin as I did so. Kind of like that time with Kirishima. Momo was more childlike than I expected.

"I should've known you'd be one of the first to get here," I said, ushering her inside.

Momo blinked twice, lashes fluttering as she carefully slipped off her shoes. "One of the first?"

"Bakugou beat you by a few minutes," I said, beckoning her toward the kitchen. "Are you hungry? I thought pizza would be a good idea for lunch considering just how many of us are going to be here, but he accused me of trying to kill him via heart attack and insisted he cook instead."

"I'm alright, thank you," Momo said, fingers laced together and eyes wide in surprise. "I had no idea Bakugou-san was a capable chef."

I hopped on a chair and gestured for Momo to take the seat beside me. "Anything we can help you with, Bakugou?"

The blond went from sitting in the stool to standing in front of my stove wearing a spare apron haphazardly strung around his waist, the simple black linen blending in seamlessly with his shirt and dark washed jeans. His eyes flickered to the girl beside me for a second before he spun on his heel and pulled open the refrigerator door.

"Can you make anything besides ramen?" Bakugou asked, eyeing me warily.

"Breakfast foods?"

"It's fucking noon."

"I said what I said."

"Fucking rich people," he rolled his eyes, yanking out a carton of eggs and shutting the fridge door with a grunt. "Just wash the damn rice."

Bakugou set the eggs down and placed a frying pan on the stove, pausing to glance at Momo nervously tugging on the ribbons decorating her ivory blouse. The marble countertop seemed to fascinate her, but she looked up once she felt his stare, cheeks rosy with an embarrassed blush. All things considered, it wasn't hard to guess why.

"You don't know how to cook either," Bakugou said dryly, scoffing when she meekly nodded. "You can pull a fuckin' armored tank out of your arm, but you can't make yourself a damn sandwich."

"It was not a necessity for me to learn," Momo admitted, looking so bashful that she didn't even react to his colorful vocabulary. "Growing up my family prioritized other things, and I suppose now I simply don't have the time for it."

"Didn't ask for your life story."

Bakugou kept his hand hovering by the cupboard that stored the rest of our aprons, catching my eye for a moment to wait for the go ahead. I nodded at him and then took his place at the stove, setting the freshly rinsed pot of rice on medium heat. It occurred to me after realizing what he planned to do just how domestic the scene was at the moment, and I wasn't sure which one of the two was more bizarre.

"Here," Bakugou said, holding out a red apron. "Damn time you pulled your weight, Princess Peach."

Momo accepted the smock with a clumsy bow, though I couldn't tell if she was flustered because of the surprisingly clever nickname or at the prospect of doing something in the kitchen essentially for the first time. Or maybe it was all Bakugou. In the time I spent with them individually, I couldn't think of an instance when the two had been left together in such close quarters until now.

"Better not fuck this up," Bakugou said, handing her an egg. "This is the easiest shit to make out of all the easy shit."

Momo smoothed a finger over the ivory shell, determination surprisingly or perhaps not so surprisingly sweeping over her expression.

"I will do my best."

The doorbell rang again before I could give it too much thought, but I wasn't too worried about it in the first place. If Bakugou was going to be on his best behavior for anyone, Momo was probably at the top of the list, and definitely one of the only people on it to come out unscathed. Funny how serendipity introduced the most unlikely people sometimes.

"I'll be back in a second," I said.

I didn't think either of them noticed I left.

* * *

"'To all the boys I loved before,' is simple past tense," I said, tapping my pencil against the sheet of paper. "It means you performed the action at some time in the past and it is now complete. 'To all the boys I have loved before,' is present perfect, indicating an action that began in the past and continues in the present, or whose effects continue in the present. It can also be used to indicate an indefinite time.'"

"Like, if I had a crush on a boy, but didn't anymore, I'd say, 'I liked him.' If I say, 'I've liked him,' I'm implying that I still might or at least liked him for an unspecified amount of time."

"That's the gist of it."

"Thanks, Rei!" Ashido grinned, holding up her homework not unlike a baby Simba. "You explained that way better than Present Mic ever did!"

Tutoring the pinkette wasn't as awkward as I thought it'd be once I got a grasp on her style of learning. It took a few pop culture references, particularly ones involving romance, to get her even a little bit interested in a subject, but fortunately it was pretty much smooth sailing from there.

"Maybe because you were asleep when he went over that lesson," Sero called out from across my living room.

Ashido stuck her tongue out at him. "I'm not the one having trouble with a language I actually know."

"Japanese literature is hard stuff," Sero protested, jerking his thumb beside him. "I'm just lucky Todoroki here is a total master at it!"

My lips twitched into a small smile, in part because their banter had gone from somewhat annoying to sort of amusing over the three and a half hours since they showed up at my front door. Mostly because Todoroki looked bored as hell. I could tell he tried not to doze off, but it must've been even more difficult to hold back now that Sero finished his work and he had no obligation to stay awake.

"You both did good," I said, rewarding them with an honest grin. "Why don't we take a break? There's a bunch of leftovers from lunch in the kitchen."

"I still can't believe Bakugou made all of that food," Sero said, towering over us once he stood to his feet.

The blond worked on mathematics in the dining room with Jirō, Kirishima, and Ochako. Needless to say, I stayed as far away as possible, and the constant yelling on Bakugou's part did little to change my mind on the matter.

"I know, right?" Ashido said, following suit with a giggle and slight skip in her step. "I heard Yaomomo helped! Bet she was so cute in her apron!"

Momo took the den down the hall to help Kaminari with his chemistry, puns very likely intended, and though I had no doubt she could take care of herself, Deku offered to mediate. I wasn't sure how much time we could dedicate to "studying" for our practical exam, but it was still fairly bright outside, and I figured the others would appreciate a change in pace.

"We've never sparred before," I said, looking over at Todoroki still sitting across the room. He and I were alone now that our temporary students slinked off into the kitchen, but the silence they left behind was comforting and familiar.

Todoroki blinked the tiredness away from his eyes, nodding sluggishly. "Never even fought together if I recall correctly."

"Weird, isn't it? I would've thought that'd be one of the first things we'd cross off the bucket list."

"Bucket list?"

"A list of things you want to do—"

"I know what it is," Todoroki interrupted, brows furrowed. "I just didn't know we had one."

I shrugged, bringing my legs to my chest and looping my arms around them. "I was just talking in general is all. But," I paused. "Maybe we can make one now?"

"What did you have in mind?"

"Would it be kind of morbid to include 'fight together' on there?"

It was his turn to shrug, resting a limp arm on his propped up knee. "We're going to be Heroes."

He didn't have to finish the rest of that thought. Fighting was part of the job description, and the finality in his voice was as admirable as it was hard to believe. Most Pros decided to work solo or with a sidekick, but they also had the liberty of choosing to work with a team, like Kamihara-sensei was considering with Mt. Lady and Kamui Woods. It didn't happen often, though, much less among those who aimed to be number one.

"Didn't get the memo you were open to having a partner," I said, brows raised.

"Not on paper," Todoroki said, lips twitching the slightest bit. "I suppose I wouldn't mind an exception if there was a capable candidate."

"Picky as ever."

"It's called having standards."

"Well?" I asked. "Do I fit those standards?"

He didn't say anything for a moment, and it was with a spike of stuttering embarrassment did I realize how that might've come across. If it was Kaminari, I would've been called out for flirting—or not. Probably not. I wouldn't have said something like that to Kaminari on purpose. It was because I was speaking to Todoroki that those words came out the way they did.

"Do I fit yours?"

Like countless of times in the past, I almost laughed. "Brave of you to assume _I_ want a partner."

"Guess we're both full of surprises," Todoroki mused, leaning against the side of the couch. I couldn't help but think that the red in his hair contrasted nicely with the cobalt velvet.

"It's decided then, first thing on our bucket list. 'Fight together.' No wonder Aizawa-sensei is getting gray hairs."

"And the beach."

I sobered in an instant, blinking at him like I hadn't heard what he said despite the fact that it rang perfectly clear in my mind. "What about the beach?"

"You said before that you'd take me to see the ocean," Todoroki said, traces of teasing absent in his expression and tone. Just curiosity and a bit of something I didn't know where to place. "That can be the next thing on the list, right?"

Regardless of whether or not I consciously accepted this as flirting, I looked forward to the back and forths, and part of me wanted to know if he at least felt the same in that respect. It was a simple request, a topic we talked about before. Maybe that meant it wasn't as arbitrary as I thought.

"Right," I said.

And I smiled, heart stuttering, because so did he.

* * *

"You'd tell me if you and Bakugou started dating, right?"

I tried not to choke on the banana milk I'd been drinking, but in the back of my mind I thought _this is karma for earlier_ and then proceeded to choke anyway. The redhead hurriedly slapped his palm flat against my back, repeating the action a couple of times until the coughing stopped.

"Sorry," Kirishima winced, rubbing the trunk of his neck. "I should've worded that better."

He tried to avoid eye contact, but the incredulity in my voice gave me away regardless. "And what made you decide to string that sentence together in the first place?"

"Ashido kept talking about it in the kitchen while you and Todoroki were still in the living room," Kirishima paused, looking at me. "Your house is huge, by the way—but, uh, as I was saying, I was just curious after about the tenth time she brought it up."

"I know people are into the whole speaking things into the universe and all," I deadpanned. "But she could say it a million times and it still wouldn't be true."

Kirishima groaned and threw his head back over the edge of the sofa. The two of us just finished eating a snack, some strawberries and a carton of banana milk each, but to be safe we decided to take five before joining the others outside for some practical training. Two minutes ago we had a conversation about puppies because he always wanted to have one and I told him he could come over next time I dog sat for Kan-oji.

And now—

"Sorry, Rei, I guess she's always been like that," Kirishima said, grabbing a pillow and hugging it to his chest. "And maybe that's why I assumed—ah, I knew it wasn't true!"

I blinked at him, still in the process of adjusting to the sudden shift in topic. "Did you go to the same school before Yūei?"

"Yeah, middle school. Not like you and that guy from Shiketsu, though. I didn't even really know her until we were about to graduate."

"But?"

"But," Kirishima said, grinning slightly, solemnly. "I still knew who she was, you know?"

I decided right away that I didn't like seeing him so down. "What did you mean when you said she's always been like that?"

"A people person?" Kirishima suggested, then shook his head. "I don't know if that's the right term, but everyone knew she was meant to stand out. Become a Hero. I honestly thought I was just kind of dull and boring in comparison."

Oh.

 _Oh._

"Is that what you think now?" I asked, sitting a little straighter. "Because there are no witnesses, and I won't hesitate to knock some sense into you."

"Maybe you have been spending too much time with Bakugou," Kirishima said, letting out a huff that came close to a chuckle. "But no, I don't really think that. Not as much at least," and then he added, like an afterthought that he thought necessary for whatever reason, "My Quirk isn't as flashy as yours."

"Quirks are important and an inherent part of us, but they don't define who we are. Shinsō's taught us more than enough about that, and truthfully, Kirishima, so did you," I said, heart clenching at the incredulity seeping through his expression. "Being a Hero isn't about the flashy Quirks at all. I wouldn't trust a stranger with my life just because they have a couple of cool party tricks up their sleeve."

He cracked a smile at that.

"I'd be worried if you did."

"You asked if I'd tell you if Bakugou and I were actually dating," I said, lips curling into a smile of my own. "And I would, because for the record, Kirishima, I can't think of anyone more reliable than you."

Kirishima stared at me for a second or two or three. I would've thought he was about to cry, but his eyes just happened to shine like that on any given day, and I believed him when he said he was in a better place. That wasn't the point. He wanted to hear it, and I wanted to tell him, because I knew what that was like, too. And then he beamed, not like sunshine but distinctly Kirishima.

"Thanks, Rei," Kirishima said. "Has anyone ever told you you'd make really good greeting cards?"

"That is the nicest compliment I've ever received."

"Not the best, eh?"

"Kamihara-sensei told me I'd make a good ninja. My nine year old self would've probably cried."

"And your sixteen-year-old self didn't?"

I rolled my eyes to keep up appearances, but the smile on my face was unmistakable. "Fifteen, but point taken."

"Isn't your birthday in March?" Kirishima asked, blinking in sudden confusion. "I thought that made you one of the oldest kids in our class, but if you're still fifteen—"

"No—"

"You're actually the youngest!"

I slumped in my seat as Kirishima threw his head back in unrestrained laughter, but the sight of him smiling again made the teasing more than a little bearable. I would be far worse than any joke that came my way if I took that away from him. In the back of my mind, I filed a note to ask Momo if she would mind inviting him to training one day, or if Amajiki-senpai would mind including another person in the schedule. For some reason or another, I had a feeling it might do all of us some good.

"Laugh it up," I said, taking a deliberately uppish stance. "Pinning you down later will just be that much more satisfying."

Kirishima shot to his feet after me.

"You're _on_."

* * *

The boys ended up in the middle of a free for all brawl in my backyard. Momo insisted on supervising, Ochako stayed behind to cheer Deku on, and Jirō and I decided to bask in the air conditioning until they tired themselves out. Most of it was spent in silence, but I didn't mind breaking it so long as it wasn't replaced by small talk.

"I didn't know you played."

I looked up from the magazine in my hands to find Jirō eyeing the grand piano tucked away in a nook down the corridor. I prepared myself for the usual _when did you learn_ or _how long have you been playing_ , but I suppose Jirō didn't seem like the type for such vapid conversations.

"Wait, scratch that, I could sort of guess," Jirō corrected, looking over at my form sprawled across the couch. Her lips twitched into a small smirk and begrudgingly, I shifted to sit up straight. "You were tapping the notes to _Rhapsody in Blue_ on your desk yesterday."

"Not surprised you caught that," I said, impressed. "I don't think I even realized I was doing it until I suddenly switched songs."

Jirō took the opportunity to sit on the other end of the sofa, fingers curled around a damp water bottle. "The theme from _Spirited Away_ , right?"

"I love that film," I nodded, lips curling into a fond smile. "And I love that soundtrack."

I was vaguely aware of the fact that this was our first real one-on-one conversation, but it started off so smoothly that I didn't feel the need to worry about the minutiae, and Jirō cared little about trivial things in general.

"Right? To be honest, though, I thought you'd be into, like, _Princess Mononoke_."

"It's in my top five."

"What's first?"

" _Kiki's Delivery Service_."

Jirō blinked at me, brows raised. "I did not see that coming."

"What do you mean?" I asked, tilting my head to the side. "Who doesn't want to be a witch?"

"Like I said," Jirō said, listlessly wiping the condensation on the water bottle against her leggings. "You just seemed like a San instead of a Kiki, but now that I think about it, the witch thing weirdly makes sense."

"I don't think I'm like San at all."

"Yeah?"

"Well, at all might be a little dramatic," I said wryly, earning a snicker. "I'm stubborn enough, but I don't hate humans and I don't think I feel as passionately about anything as she does about the forest."

I mulled the words over in my head. It was harder to put things into words when I talked about something I loved, even more so the kind of stuff that took space in the shape of me. I didn't want to ruin the essence of that by trying to explain something that needed to be felt. The past few months in the real world have done their part in enforcing that notion. Just another existential concept to think about in the shower.

"Or maybe I do," I added.

"Which part?"

"Obviously the humans."

"Sorry I asked," Jirō said, arching a bemused brow. "When you put it that way, though, San is starting to sound more like Bakugou or Midoriya."

"I can't imagine Midoriya holding a knife to anyone's throat, but Bakugou would make quite the princess, don't you think?"

"No comment. Like, I refuse. I feel like he can sense us talking about him from out there. He'd probably have teeth daggers in his pocket if it was socially acceptable."

"As opposed to explosive sweat?"

"Touché."

""What's your favorite?" I asked, placing the long forgotten magazine in my hands back on the coffee table. "Movie, not bomb."

"Thanks for the clarification," Jirō snorted, then sheepishly scratched at her cheek. "The very first film my dad ever showed me was _My Neighbor Totoro_ and it's stuck with me ever since."

"That's sweet," I said, and for a second it looked like she thought I was teasing, but I thought about the memories I still had of my own father and made sure to give her as sincere a smile I could manage.

"Thanks," Jirō said, smiling a bit in return. "Is _Whisper of the Heart_ anywhere at the top of your list?"

"Solid third."

"Has anyone ever told you—"

I couldn't hold back my snort. "No, but I know where you're going with this. It's the cat again, isn't it? I don't even like cats."

"Maybe you should be one of these characters for the cultural festival," Jirō said, then paused. "How could you possibly hate cats?"

"That's months away," I pointed out, but pondered the thought. "And it's not my fault. Cats hate me."

The Yūei Cultural Festival was another annual event that took place in order to promote the students and the school. Kayama-sensei mentioned it in passing during one of her many in class visits, but Aizawa-sensei assured us that it wouldn't be our priority for a while. I was glad I had one less thing to worry about until after finals, though I had to admit the prospect was an interesting change to the almost dying routine.

"It'd be cool if you did some kind of performance. Momo can play the piano, too, right? Maybe if a miracle happens we can even convince Bakugou to play the drums."

"Bakugou can play the drums?"

"Annoying how good he is at everything, isn't it?"

"Why wouldn't you play the piano, though? Not that I don't want Yaomomo to do it, but I mean, you seem just as qualified."

"Just because I can doesn't mean I particularly enjoy it," I said, shrugging noncommittally. "I'm suddenly very determined to see Bakugou into perform with a band, though."

"What's your favorite song to play? You must have that, at least. And don't you dare say _Clair de Lune_."

Ballet and piano recitals always seemed like one of the few constants in my childhood, but the only proof that time of my life ever happened included certificates of achievements scattered throughout my room and the handfuls of photos Kan-oji stored away in his phone. As song titles sifted through my mind, I wondered how much of it I truly enjoyed, and I found my answer in the notes that suddenly started playing in my head.

"'Ashitaka and San.'"

Lips twitching, Jirō nodded, coughing into her fist. I stared at her for a second or two and then sighed, making a _do whatever you want_ motion with my hands. Her cackles instantly echoed down the hall, dismissing my sour expression with a wave of her earjacks.

"I won't say anything else," Jirō said, wiping a fake tear. "But you know what this means, right? Now I've gotta hear you play it, oh, wolf goddess."

"Only if you play something, too."

Jirō smirked and held out a fist, patiently waiting until I very reluctantly knocked mine against it. Her expression didn't look short of satisfied as she nodded her head.

"It's a deal."

* * *

"I can't believe you did that!"

Momo flushed. "You instructed me to!"

"When people say 'step on me,'" Kaminari started hotly, clutching his bruised abdomen. "They usually don't mean it literally!"

It started to get dark outside and we decided collectively save for Bakugou that a few last minute spars would be the perfect way to end the evening. the blond spent the past half hour snoring on my couch, and his lack of enthusiasm for combat training might've been surprising had I not seen the disgruntled looks he'd been throwing Deku all day. I realized halfway through that it was his way of being civil—couldn't start a fight, but he could avoid him like the plague—and I appreciated the effort.

"That's probably enough for today," Kirishima grinned, holding out an expectant hand.

Sero groaned and fished for change in his pockets. "Damn, I guess placing in the top ten took all the miracles."

"I can't believe you doubted her for a second," Jirō said, shaking her head. "Against Kaminari, of all people? Even I'm insulted."

"Boys," Ashido agreed.

Kaminari pointed a finger at them, though it was more so directed at the pinkette. "Don't you ' _ugh, boys_ ' me! I had to listen to your gossip the entire time everyone else was snacking inside!"

"You love gossip," I yawned, legs swinging from my seat between Todoroki and Deku on the edge of the patio. "And I heard you ask her to ' _spill the deets_ ,' as you so enthusiastically put it."

"That's beside the point," Kaminari said, wriggling his brows at me. " _Baby_."

I pulled the sweat off his forehead and flicked it towards Kirishima, prompting a clamorous yelp from the redhead as he wiped the beads of perspiration onto Sero's shirt. "I hate you."

"Rei," Kirishima whined. "That's disgusting!"

"I sweat roses, thank you very much," Kaminari said indignantly, rolling onto his back. He blinked up at the melting skies, arms tucked behind his head, and then slowly, as if just realizing, stared up at me in true concern. "Your mom doesn't mind us being here this late, does she?"

"Mission," I said, not too bothered by it this time since she told me ahead of time, though I'd be lying if I said her absence didn't linger still. "How are you all getting home, though? I'd rather you not walk once it gets dark."

Sero nudged the redhead beside him, which might've seemed like a playful gesture if it wasn't obvious he was trying to return Kaminari's sweat. "I doubt there are any street thugs who can take a punch from this dude."

"Wait a minute," Ashido said, holding up a hand. "Let's go back to the mission part. Your mom is a Pro Hero? That's so cool! Is it anyone I know?"

I didn't need to look around to know everyone who knew, and that was pretty much everyone here, had their eyes on me. Ochako bit her lip, glancing worriedly at my reaction, but I mustered a smile both at her and the pink haired girl a few steps away.

"Kamino."

Ashido gasped, and I felt a bit guilty thinking it would've taken her longer to realize what that meant. After a few seconds of silence, I noticed Jirō's eyes widen slowly, blinking in disbelief. I smiled at her, too. As much as I worried about Iida, hollow smiles seldom applied to me anymore, and I felt a selfish relief in getting used to that.

"There's still food in the kitchen," I said, breaking up the quietude. "I can pack them up if anyone—"

"Can I hug you?"

 _What?_

"You can say no," Ashido added, folding her hands in front of her in an uncharacteristic display of demureness. "We don't even have to talk about this right now or ever again. It just popped into my head so, you know, I thought I'd ask."

It was in that moment did I understand what Kirishima meant earlier about how Ashido was a people person. Not like Momo or Todoroki, popular in their own right. Not like Deku with his knack for inspiring everyone around him. Not even like Kirishima despite his own personal brand of wholesomeness. Ashido was a people person because she was good at talking to people, physically reaching out. Regardless of whatever qualms I had about her way of doing certain things, I respected that.

"If you want."

I stumbled back from the impact of her body slamming into me, flinching as the two of us hit the deck. Laughing, Ashido immediately pulled away and extended a hand to help me up, but it was her turn to get knocked down when a sudden blur of red came hurtling in our direction.

"Group hug!" Kirishima shouted.

The redhead latched onto Deku's shirt and pulled him down with them. Jirō grabbed Momo and Ochako's wrists and tried weaving their way around the mess, but Sero wrapped a string of tape around them, flinging all three into the growing pile before jumping on it himself.

"You better not," Jirō growled.

Grinning, Kaminari inched closer. "Eat my sweat!"

"No, you stupid—that is so gross, get away from me, _I will short circuit you into next century_ —"

"I'm just," I shook my head, taking a step back. "Did you hear that? I think Bakugou needs help with, I don't know, explosives—"

Kirishima stole back the step I took by leaping an extra three towards me. "Bakugou sleeps like he's dead. Nice try, though," and he grinned a shit-eating grin if I ever did see one.

I bit back a curse and instinctively shot my arm out, grasping for some sort of protection that didn't involve Kaminari's perspiration. My fingers clutched at a something soft but solid, and belatedly, I realized it was an arm cool to the touch despite the summer humidity. No time for hesitation. I tugged hard, throwing Todoroki in front of me, and I didn't have the heart to look at the betrayal on his face.

"Grab them, Sero!" Ashido commanded.

Tape twirled around us, teasingly and threateningly. I let out an exasperated groan as I collided with another body, arms sticking out with nowhere else to place them. Todoroki grunted at the impact, and the sudden adrenaline rush made me all the more aware of his presence, not just inches away.

He was right there.

If I lifted my head an inch, my chin would've rested on his shoulder, and because the alternative was smashing my face against his back, I figured there was no harm in it. The only indication that he minded or knew what I did in the first place was the visible tightening in his jaw, but that was more than enough to make me recoil.

"Sorry, I should've asked," I mumbled, keeping my voice down since my mouth was already next to his ear. "I don't have much room to move, but I can probably—"

"You make a terrible partner."

I stared at him, though he couldn't see it, unsure myself if I felt more surprised or confused. He turned his head like he did it just to stubbornly prove me wrong, and I kept looking at him, because I realized a little belatedly that it was so like him to say that.

"I owe you," I promised.

"Banana milk."

"Done."

"Thanks."

"Ever thrown someone into a pool?"

Todoroki looked thoughtful, but then shook his head. "Not that I can remember."

"Do you want to try?" I asked, turning to our group of friends failing to disguise their prying gazes.

Mirth briefly marked his expression before I felt the heat burning through the tape constricting us. That was as good an answer as any. The sliding door slammed open and Sero had the decency to flinch, all the while keeping a cautious eye on us. I circled my shoulders as strips of tape fell to our feet, and the culprits gulped at the moisture swirling around me.

"Abort! Abort!" Kaminari shouted, scrambling to his feet. "They're onto us—oh, shit, Bakugou is awake and he doesn't look happy!"

Sero slapped him upside the head, frantically sprinting across the yard. "I told you not to mess with his manga!"

"I told _you_ not to mess with Rei _and_ Todoroki!"

"You think those two are scarier than a pissed off Bakugou?"

"How about," Ashido interrupted, dashing past the two boys. "Both of you shut up and we run for our lives?"

* * *

Despite my nagging about not walking back so late in the evening, the boys insisted they'd be fine as long as they stuck together. Deku and Todoroki lived in the same direction, Kirishima followed Bakugou to the station, and Sero's mom picked him up and dropped off Kaminari on the way. Momo offered the same service to the girls, including Ochako, but her parents worked late and wouldn't be home until the morning.

"Are you sure this is okay?" Ochako asked, taking a seat on the edge of my bed.

I spread out her freshly washed clothes on top of the covers, resisting the urge to roll my eyes. It was the fourth time she asked that in the past ten minutes. I didn't want her to know what it felt like to wake up in an empty house, and that sounded like as good a reason as any to invite her to stay the night.

"I wouldn't have offered if I wasn't."

"Not true! It could've been super inconvenient for you and I know you would've done it anyway!"

I threw a pillow over my shoulder, expecting her to catch it, but it hit her in the face instead, and I had to swallow a laugh when she fell back across the mattress with an _oof_.

"Seriously, Ochako, it's fine," I said, taking a seat on the edge of the bed. "I'm glad you're here."

"Thanks for inviting me to sleepover," Ochako said, hugging the pillow to her chest. "The food was really good today?"

"Why was that said with a question mark?"

"It wasn't?"

"You did it again."

"I guess I just can't believe Bakugou-kun made everything. But I heard Yaoyorozu-chan helped!"

"'Help' is kind of a loose term," I snorted, thinking back to earlier that day. After some trial and error, Momo managed to cook the eggs perfectly as promised, but the blond had a bit of trouble teaching her much else due to time restraints. "It was a relief to see them get along, though, as much as Bakugou can get along with someone. Today went better than I expected in general."

Ochako rolled over onto her side to look at me. "You don't invite people over a lot, huh?"

"Should I be offended?"

"That I'm right?"

"Maybe you have been spending too much time with Bakugou," I mused, chuckling when her cheeks puffed defiantly. "But no, you're right. I'm glad it went better than the first time."

First time being the aforementioned life or death event that happened less than two weeks ago. It was strange to think that something so important as our mortality could be that fragile and yet I was out here hanging out with my friends days after it was threatened. Half of me felt like I deserved a break, and the other was worried I was becoming too desensitized to these sorts of situations. Nearly dying shouldn't have felt like the norm, but lately, it did.

"This is my first time staying over at a friend's house," Ochako admitted, looking back up at the ceiling. "My parents have been really busy these days, so I haven't," her mouth clamped shut.

"Haven't?"

"Nothing, it's silly."

"Silly isn't nothing," I pointed out. "And silly isn't bad."

The grin she gave me slowly settled into a sad sort of smile, and I wondered if I misjudged the situation. If it had been me I wouldn't have appreciated inquisitive questions asking why or why not, but this was Ochako, and I assumed that she wouldn't have brought it up if she didn't want to talk about it.

"I miss them, but I know I shouldn't because I'm the reason they're working so much, and it's not like—"

"Not like they're dead," I said, filling in the blanks.

Ochako nodded bashfully, guiltily, and I followed her gaze to the popcorn specks above us. Mom made sure to get rid of them in every single room in the house, but I was eight and in a rebellious stage and asked Kan-oji to stop her from doing it to mine out of pure spite. To be honest, I found them as ugly as she did.

"Sorry, I shouldn't—"

"No, I should apologize. I didn't mean to make it all dramatic."

"I'm the one being dramatic," Ochako said, sounding incredibly small despite sitting inches away. "People have gone through so much worse and I'm here complaining about something like this."

I shook my head, amazed and appalled at how much I felt those words strike me again. "You're allowed to feel sad and still be able to empathize with others."

"I'm not like you. I can't relate to people, especially not the people at Yūei. I'm—"

"Ochako."

"Hm?"

"You're Ochako," I said, staring at the ceiling, counting popcorn kernels that seemed to look more and more like stars. "You don't have to relate to someone in order to understand them. Or even sympathize. The fact that you're here means a space in this world belongs to you, and I think that little piece makes the rest of it better."

I heard Ochako gasp, and I looked at her because I wanted to understand. Mouth curved, brows furrowed, lashes brushing against her skin. The brunette remained deep in thought for a minute or two or however long we sat there listening to the quiet droll of the air conditioning.

"I'm glad we met, Rei," Ochako whispered.

In the midst of the silence, I imagined pristine white keys tipped black and blanketed by my fingers. Notes drifted through my mind, and as the song escalated, I couldn't help but smile.

* * *

 **[11:07 PM] Kaminari Denki**

 _heya_

 **[11:07 PM] Kaminari Denki**

 _just got home_

 **[11:07 PM] Kaminari Denki**

 _texting u like u asked_

 **[11:08 PM] Kaminari Denki**

 _also can u tell bakugou i'm sorry_

 **[11:08 PM] Kaminari Denki**

 _he blocked me_

* * *

 **[11:12 PM] Ashido Mina**

 _HOMEEE_

 **[11:12 PM] Ashido Mina**

 _today was so fun haha!_

 **[11:12 PM] Ashido Mina**

 _we should do it again soon~!_

 **[11:12 PM] Ashido Mina**

 _maybe we can invite all the girls next time!_

* * *

 **[11:15 PM] Sero Hanta**

 _hey i'm home now!_

 **[11:15 PM] Sero Hanta**

 _thanks for having us over rei_

 **[11:15 PM] Sero Hanta**

 _good luck studying for that math exam lol_

* * *

 **[11:19 PM] Jirō Kyoka**

 _yo_

 **[11:19 PM] Jirō Kyoka**

 _yaomomo just dropped me off_

 **[11:19 PM] Jirō Kyoka**

 _thanks for having me over and letting me borrow kiki_

 **[11:20 PM] Jirō Kyoka**

 _i'll give you my copy of totoro on monday_

* * *

 **[11:27 PM] Kirishima Ejirō**

 _got home safe and sound!_

 **[11:27 PM] Kirishima Ejirō**

 _today was really fun :D thanks for the talk earlier!_

 **[11:28 PM] Kirishima Ejirō**

 _tell uraraka i said hi_

 **[11:28 PM] Kirishima Ejirō**

 _hope you guys have sweet dreams!_

* * *

 **[11:29 PM] Midoriya Izuku**

 _hi rei! i'm home now ( *'ω'* )_

* * *

 **[11:30 PM] Yaoyorozu Momo**

 _Hello, Rei. I've arrived home safely. Thank you for hosting such a wonderful night. I hope you and Uraraka-san are well._

* * *

 **[11:31 PM] Todoroki Shouto**

 _I'm home._

 **Todoroki Shouto is typing…**

* * *

 **[12:28 AM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _hi_

 **[12:28 AM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _sorry for the late reply_

 **[12:28 AM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _my phone died_

 **Kaminari Denki is typing…**

 **Sero Hanta is typing…**

 **Kirishima Ejirō is typing…**

 **Ashido Mina is typing…**

 **[12:28 AM] Kaminari Denki**

 _did u put it in rice_

 **[12:28 AM] Sero Hanta**

 _did you put it in rice?_

 **[12:28 AM] Kirishima Ejirō**

 _oh man u should put it in rice_

 **[12:28 AM] Ashido Mina**

 _PUT IT IN RICE_

 **Jirō Kyoka is typing…**

 **[12:30 AM] Jirō Kyoka**

 _wow_

 **Yaoyorozu Momo is typing…**

 **[12:32 AM] Yaoyorozu Momo**

 _If the rice absorbs enough water, the starch from the surface can get inside and further clog any open ports on your cellular device. In case this happens again, perhaps synthetic desiccants may work more efficiently in the future._

 **Higuchi Reiko is typing…**

 **[12:32 AM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _thanks guys_

 **[12:32 AM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _but that's only for water damage_

 **[12:33 AM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _and hello_

 **[12:33 AM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _liquid manipulation_

 **[12:33 AM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _glad you all got home safe though_

 **Midoriya Izuku is typing…**

 **[12:33 AM] Midoriya Izuku**

 _is your phone alright now rei?_

 **[12:34 AM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _yup_

 **[12:34 AM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _has anyone heard from bakugou?_

 **[12:35 AM] Kirishima Ejirō**

 _nah but don't worry he's prob asleep_

 **Uraraka Ochako is typing…**

 **[12:36 AM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _ochako_

 **[12:36 AM] Uraraka Ochako**

 _her phone didn't die_

 **[12:36 AM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _no_

 **[12:36 AM] Uraraka Ochako**

 _she put it on do not disturb while we were watching whisper of the heart_

 **[12:36 AM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _no i didn't_

 **[12:36 AM] Uraraka Ochako**

 _because she cried hehe_ _｡_ _(*^▽^*)_ _ゞ_

 **Kaminari Denki is typing…**

 **[12:37 AM] Kaminari Denki**

 _our poor baby! :(_

 **Higuchi Reiko has left the conversation.**

* * *

 **[12:32 AM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _did u die_

 **[12:32 AM] Bakugou Katsuki**

 _no_

 **[12:32 AM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _damn_

* * *

 **[11:32 PM] Todoroki Shouto**

 _My sister asked me to stop by the animal shelter she works at part time next week._

 **[11:32 PM] Todoroki Shouto**

 _Would you like to go with me? You can bring Sekijirō-sensei's dog. There's a park nearby._

 **Higuchi Reiko is typing…**

 **[12:32 AM] Higuchi Reiko**

 _I'd like that very much._

* * *

 **[12:41 AM] Kaminari Denki**

 _bakugou_

 **[12:41 AM] Kaminari Denki**

 _unblock me i have to tell u smth_

 **[12:57 AM] Kaminari Denki**

 _WHOA U ACTUALLY UNBLOCKED ME_

 **Bakugou Katsuki is typing…**

 **[12:57 AM] Bakugou Katsuki**

 _bitch_

 **Bakugou Katsuki has left the conversation.**

 **Kaminari Denki has been blocked.**

* * *

 **postscript**

hello! i'm sorry about the wait! just started school again and it's been tricky juggling this and that (definitely underestimated my workload this semester but we're surviving uwu) next chapter will be the practical exam and the one after that will probably be the movie chapter and both are pretty decently mapped out so hopefully they come sooner rather than later! thank u for ur patience, i hope you look forward to it (๑´•ω • `๑) as always please let me know what you think and thank u so much for reading, hehe

links never work here so if u have time pls check out jngsjngs dot tumblr dot com for a few things i want to share ( ◞･౪･) i just feel like it'll add to the chapter if there's context to some of the conversations especially if u haven't seen any of the shows or movies mentioned (in case u want a head start the chapter title is inspired by rear view by zayn take from that what u will)


	23. Lost in Translation

No copyright infringement intended.

* * *

—

 **XIII. Lost in Translation**

—

* * *

A pair of caramel glazed eyes adjusted to the darkness, growing as accustomed to the dirt and dust and smidge of sunlight slipping past the brittle blinds barring the window. The silence, on the other hand, made him want to spit up his breakfast and then some. For a second, Hawks entertained the thought, because maybe if he spilled his guts someone would have to come and clean up the mess—no, the carpet was plenty fucked up and he wasn't any less alone or bored.

Not worth the trouble.

To his delight, a sudden ringing interrupted the quietude. Fishing in his pockets for the buzzing burner phone, Hawks ran a spare hand through his lion's mane and repeated his mantra. Two more days. Two more days. He could handle two more days, but if he had to eat another stale ass piece of bread, he was going to fucking lose it.

"Tell me I can leave," Hawks said. "I'll give you my paycheck for this mission. S-ranked, lots of dollar signs."

 _"Take me to dinner first."_

"You're a real charmer."

 _"Why else do you think you have the privilege of staying in that ultra deluxe suite?"_ Edgeshot said. _"No one expected you to infiltrate an S-ranked criminal syndicate overnight, prodigal Hero or not."_

"I know you're being sarcastic," Hawks said, feathers prickling at a spot he couldn't quite reach. "But I'm kind of offended because this place is a shithole, oh, and I hate you."

 _"You did this to yourself, kid."_

"I'm twenty-two, old man," his fingers tugged at the hoops dangling from his ears to distract himself from the itch, a habit he picked up not long after he pierced them. "Am I allowed to at least know why you're calling or is that filed under 'classified?'"

 _"You know you broke protocol the instant you opened your mouth, right? The burner would've automatically self-destructed if Kamino hadn't secured the line in time."_

"Don't tell me I'm stuck in that freaky hammerspace thing—wait, is that why it's so dark in here?"

 _"Status report,"_ another voice abruptly commanded.

"Tipped them off about the training camp," Hawks said, signature crimson wings fluttering behind him. "Looks like they're laying low after the Children's Day fiasco, but I doubt they'll pass up an opportunity like that."

 _"We remain in your debt, Hawks,"_ came her curt response, and Hawks couldn't help but sit up just a little bit straighter. Explicit praise from the Number Three Hero was about as rare as a smile from Number Two. _"Edgeshot and I will inform the others."_

 _"I bet he's preening."_

"Ha," Hawks deadpanned. "Come on, Gramps, I'm going stir crazy as it is. If you're going to make lame jokes, at least give me a little oomph," he paused. "Where're you right now? Something come up?"

 _"We have official business at Yūei today, and before you start whining,"_ at that, Hawks rolled his eyes. _"It was a unanimous decision to keep this off the grid. Figured the students deserved an average Tuesday with no unsanctioned Villain attacks."_

"Touching."

 _"Feel free to cry."_

Hawks grasped at the energy to chuckle under his breath, lips curled into a minuscule smirk. "Final exams already, huh? Send my regards to my mentee, yeah?"

 _"Birdman Number Two?"_

"His name is Tokoyami."

 _"Will do, Birdman Number One. Don't do anything I wouldn't do, and don't do anything I would do either."_

"What does that leave me with, exactly?"

 _"I kept a tiny gray area open where you figure it out and become a billionaire. You're welcome, by the way. Dream big and you can even be like that spy with the bondage."_

"It's Bond," Hawks groaned, hanging his head. "James Bond. I've always wanted to say that, but wow, please don't let me hear you say the word 'bondage' ever again."

* * *

"How the heck can you eat this everyday?" Kaminari cried, tongue sticking out of his mouth. "I feel like Todoroki just set me on fire!"

"Who's the baby now?" I mocked, stealing my chopsticks back from his flailing hands.

"That's what you get for agreeing to such lame dares," Jirō said, not bothering to hide her smirk. "It's not even that spicy, idiot."

Despite my petty qualms about Kaminari stealing my food, I had to admit it was nice to see them in such good spirits. Class 1-A completed our written exams for the semester, and I could say with confidence that each of us managed to get at least a passing grade. Nerves about the practical later in the afternoon still lingered, but the distinct lack of dread festering in my guts counted for something.

"Should you be eating that before a practical exam?" Todoroki asked, blinking at the near empty porringer of spicy ramen in front of me.

Hagakure giggled from somewhere down the table. "You're eating the same thing, Todoroki-kun!"

"Yeah, Todoroki-kun," I said dully, picking up the last bit of noodles. "Mind your business."

"I didn't finish the whole thing," Todoroki pointed out, huffing out a mildly exasperated sigh at my purposefully hopeful expression. "Don't complain about your stomach during the test."

He slid his bowl over to me and I set my spoon down without hesitation, my own inhaled dry and forgotten on the side. Deku stared at the dish with furrowed brows, nibbling at the tip of his hashi, and despite his unusual silence, I could tell his brain was accelerating in the way it always did.

"It's recommended to wait at least an hour after a hearty meal to engage in any sort of physical activity and between the end of lunch, changing into our Hero costumes, meeting at Ground Beta, Aizawa-sensei briefing us on the details of our practical exam, and actually starting the practical exam, we'd have at least twenty minutes to spare, which is sufficient time to strategize—"

Deku was interrupted by an abrupt thud, his chair scraping against the tiled floors. I heard a yikes a couple of tables over and knew it was far from an accident if even Kirishima caught the tension, but Monoma didn't intend to be discreet. His deliberate attempt at sabotage was evidenced by the tray in his hands, trembling ever so slightly along with the drink swirling in his glass, gray eyes matte and his smile just as shallow.

"Oops," Monoma said, smirking. "I guess your head is so big that I—"

"C'mon, dude, we're not even taking the practical at the same location," Kaminari said, folding his arms behind his head. "I'd save the trash talk for when you can actually, you know, witness the trashing."

Jirō joined in with sudden, unabashed laughter. "Getting roasted by Kaminari won't be good for your reputation."

"Let's pretend that wasn't a totally backhanded compliment first," Kaminari snorted, twiddling his fingers at his fellow blond. "But yeah, uh, I'd skedaddle now."

"Don't tell me what to do—"

"Gotcha!"

Monoma stiffened and quickly turned around, drink sloshing and almost dripping onto Deku. I spun a finger and held it in place until Kendō had an iron grip on Monoma's ear, all but turning him into a crumpled ball at her feet.

"Well said, Kaminari-san," Kendō said, grinning at us. "I'm sure you'll do wonderfully in the exam!"

"But what is the exam?" Deku asked, a little embarrassed at the attention it brought him, though curious nonetheless. "Would you happen to have any ideas, Kendō-san?"

Monoma growled. "Don't you dare, Kendō—"

"I heard from one of the third years that it's usually combat based," Kendō said, nodding over at Momo. "Um, Amajiki-san, you said his name was? His friend told us that the practical during their first year reminded him of the entrance exam."

"We're fighting robots again?" Ochako asked, looking a bit disappointed. "I guess it makes sense. Aizawa-sensei did tell us it'd be cumulative, and this sort of brings us full circle, doesn't it?"

"Sounds a little too easy," I admitted, slowly setting my utensils down. "Shinsō mentioned that the midterm was graded on a curve, which implies that the final will be graded more strictly to compensate."

"It does make sense for it to be combat based," Deku said, fidgeting in his seat. I bit back a smile at the spark in his eyes, perhaps cheesy on paper but far too palpable in real life not to acknowledge. "Maybe we'll be fighting our teachers? Or each other? There's so many of us that the possibilities for pairings are at almost two hundred, a hundred and ninety to be exact, and all the Quirk combinations—"

"Let's go, Kendō," Monoma spit out. "The detestable nerd is getting his germs on me—"

Kendō tugged at his ear particularly hard and Monoma crumpled in an instant, fringe flapping over most of his face. "Midoriya-san is not detestable or a nerd!"

"Nerd part is debatable," Kaminari grinned.

Jirō nodded and let out a hum in thought. "Midoriya made some pretty good points. Makes me feel like I should be more nervous about the exam, but I'm really not."

"Don't jinx it!" Ashido exclaimed, leaning over to nudge her shoulder from the table adjacent to ours. "Those are famous last words!"

"Famous last words would be something like, 'What could go wrong?' but I mean," Kaminari shrugged. "We've been through worse. It'll be fine, right?"

* * *

"You'll be split into predetermined pairs for the practical exam," Aizawa-sensei announced. "You and your partner will be relocated to a field specific to your weaknesses and face off against a Pro Hero impaired by high density weights provided by Hatsume Mei of the Support Department."

"That's the stuff your team used at the Sports Festival, right, Rei, Shinsō-kun?" Ochako asked, peeking over our shoulders.

"Yeah," Shinsō said, lips curled into a frown. "It sounds simple in theory, but I have a feeling I don't like where this is headed."

Kaminari clapped him on the back, receiving a deadpan stare in return. "Man, you guys worry a lot. We'll probably be up against, like, Aizawa-sensei and our other teachers."

"You're talking like Aizawa-sensei can't kick your ass with his pinky finger," Shinsō retorted.

"No, I know he can."

"But?"

"He'd be gentle about it?"

"Sorry to disappoint, Kaminari, but your opponents are already waiting at their designated battle zones," Aizawa-sensei said, making the blond flinch. "Please refer to the overhead for your respective pairings and matchups."

The black screen above his head flickered to life, and the images that appeared in all their high definition glory stole the breath out of my lungs as soon as I registered them. Ten Heroes lined up across the board, each recognizable, though some painstakingly more familiar than others.

No way.

From All Might to Ryukyu and faces like Endeavor, Best Jeanist, Kamihara-sensei, and my own mother in between, nothing could've prepared us to find that those ten Heroes happened to be the Top Ten.

"I am going to kill you," Jirō muttered, glaring daggers at the quivering blond beside me.

To his credit, Kaminari managed an erratic, humorless chuckle. "How could I forget the universe hates our guts?"

"These are your opponents," Aizawa-sensei said. "Next up are the pairings, followed by the matchups."

Gang Orca

vs.

Jirō Kyoka and Kōda Kōji

Ryukyu

vs.

Uraraka Ochako and Ashido Mina

Kamui Woods

vs.

Midoriya Izuku and Kaminari Denki

Yoroi Musha

vs.

Kirishima Ejirō and Ojiro Mashirao

Crust

vs.

Hagakure Tōru and Shōji Mezō

Best Jeanist

vs.

Shinsō Hitoshi and Yaoyorozu Momo

Edgeshot

vs.

Sero Hanta and Iida Tenya

Kamino

vs.

Tokoyami Fumikage and Aoyama Yuga

Endeavor

vs.

Higuchi Reiko and Asui Tsuyu

All Might

vs.

Todoroki Shouto and Bakugou Katsuki

My first instinct was to not react at all, but the names made it real and then suddenly every nerve in my body started to react all at once. I looked over at Todoroki and found that he'd done the same, silver and turquoise as wide as crimson. His father was my opponent, and his opponent was All Might, the Number One Hero, the Symbol of Peace. Those words alone seemed incomprehensible.

I caught Tsuyu in the crowd blinking rapidly, not quite believing the situation like the rest of us. Tokoyami appeared concerned, but he didn't know the truth about my mother and the fact that she was, in fact, my mother. Sero said something to Bakugou, probably about Kamihara-sensei, Bakugou gaped at Todoroki—

Do I tell Tokoyami? Aoyama? Do I ask Todoroki for advice about his father? Do I talk to Iida about Kamihara-sensei? Talk to Kamihara-sensei about Iida?

"The trials will take place consecutively and in order of rank, starting with the Number Ten Hero Ryukyu and working our way down to All Might. Those who aren't currently fighting are expected to watch and dissect the other matches in a viewing room as a part of the grading process."

"What is the purpose of these battles?" Yaoyorozu asked, hand held high above her head. "Surely we're not expected to defeat the Top Ten Heroes, even if they're hindered by some sort of debilitating device."

"You need to either apprehend the Pro Hero or evade and escape to the exit, both within the thirty minute time frame. Each team will be given capture tape to aid them in restraining their opponent. Jirō and Kōda," I heard the sharp breath Kōda sucked in loud and clear. "You have five minutes."

"Five minutes?" Jirō exclaimed.

"Part of what you're being tested on is your ability to adapt to unexpected situations," Aizawa-sensei said, clicking the remote in his hand. "Everyone else, meet me in the viewing room."

The screen behind him turned black once more.

* * *

"What, like the Number Two Hero and his Hellflame Quirk won't be a walk in the park?"

"That's not funny."

"To you."

"The match up is completely—"

"Deliberate," I finished for him, maintaining a steady tone. "Aizawa-sensei made a point to explain that every aspect of this exam is specifically designed to give us a disadvantage."

"You don't understand," Todoroki said, his own voice almost trembling. "My father is ruthless and he's not going to hold back—"

"If I'm going down, and I'm aware that I will," I tugged on his sleeve, perhaps a little harder than intended, but it caught his attention, sharp eyes narrowing even further. "I am not going down first."

Todoroki ducked his head and I pretended not to notice the spike in temperature when he let out a frustrated breath. It was obvious that his Quirk was affected by his emotions to a certain extent, but I wasn't sure if anger was exclusive to the cold or heat. Though I'd felt the chill in momentary lapses of irritation, in that instance I was significantly warmer than I was minutes earlier. For the first time since I met him, I didn't think I liked it.

But that didn't mean I didn't get it.

Yūei was a safe space for Todoroki, and I knew that because it was one for me as well. Things at home were far from perfect for the both of us and being able to escape someplace where our problems had no reach was a blessing in disguise. The fact that Endeavor was occupying a spot here, for whatever reason, compromised that small bit of comfort. Asking him not to worry felt like asking for too much, but—

"Believe in me a little bit," I said, letting my hand fall from his wrist.

Todoroki was quiet for awhile, but then he clicked his tongue, discernibly reluctant. "Why do you always have to be so—" Stubborn? Difficult? "Just be careful."

My mouth opened with a quip or retort, but I stopped to look at him. His eyes shut tightly and his muscles still looked tense, the lines on his skin appearing more prominent despite the dim lighting from the monitors surrounding us. I'd been thinking of this as just another test to prove myself—for Todoroki, it was the culmination of something else, something more.

"I will," I promised.

The screen switched to an aerial shot of the first battlefield. I was more surprised than I should've been to see a basin of crystal blue water, but the stupor melted into a calm at the pastel luminesce that filtered the room. My skin glowed an indistinct periwinkle shade, and I lost track of where the cerulean in my costume started and the ultramarine in Todoroki's ended, idly pondering, blue is my favorite color…

* * *

To say I wasn't a bit envious that Jirō and Kōda got to take their exam in a flash flood zone would've been a fat lie. Tsuyu looked just as wistful as I did a couple of feet away, but I suppose the fact that their opponent was Gang Orca made the situation a little less favorable.

The reasons for this particular match up became glaringly obvious within the first few seconds of the exam. Sakamata Kūgo had all the abilities of a killer whale and then some, and being in a body of water magnified his abilities even more.

"Orcincus gives him enhanced strength and speed in addition to his killer whale characteristics," Momo said.

Her brows knitted tightly in concern, but I couldn't blame her. Gang Orca slammed Jirō against the wall for the umpteenth time and it'd been a measly six minutes since the timer started.

"It also comes with the ability to produce hypersonic waves," I paused to flinch on Kōda's behalf when Gang Orca threw him into one of the many boulders scattered throughout the makeshift pool. "Not only does that distort Jirō's hearing, but it intercepts Kōda's voice to the point where none of the marine animals in the vicinity are able to hear him."

"Gang Orca is extremely vulnerable to heat and therefore susceptible to dehydration," Deku added, fingers gripping his chin in thought. "If they can somehow find an opening to drain the pool or raise the temperature a few degrees…"

Ochako shivered, knees drawn to her chest. "But Gang Orca's Quirk turns Jirō and Kōda's pretty much useless!"

"Getting strung around like damn rag dolls," Bakugou scowled, flinching at the next screech that had both hurtling into another cluster of rocks. "Shit, that's fuckin' loud!"

"Jirō can cancel out other sounds," Kaminari said, gaze fixed on the monitors. "Been working on it for a couple of weeks now, even tested it on me a couple of times."

"That might help with those sonic waves, but communication between her and Kōda will be near impossible," Tokoyami muttered, standing especially close to the flow emitting from the screens. "Gang Orca has managed to separate them far enough where Jirō won't be able to see Kōda's hand signs."

A round of gasps circled the room when Gang Orca catapulted from one end of the pool to the other in a literal blink of an eye, breath caught in throats at his sheer speed. I never wanted an eidetic memory more than I did in that moment, eyes straining to follow his movements and adapt his techniques to improve my own agility.

I lost count of how many collisions occurred in the past ten minutes alone. As much as I grappled with the thought of running away from Todoroki's father, of all people, I couldn't let us get caught the same way Jirō and Kōda fell into Gang Orca's never-ending trap. Endeavor might've been second to All Might, but that didn't mean he wasn't just as lethal. To survive more than a few seconds against him, speed had to be an important ally of ours.

Lost in thought, I almost missed Jirō counter the hypersonic waves with some of her own, earjacks plugged into the ports on her boots.

"What is she thinking?" Ashido asked, rocking on the heels of her feet. "No way she can overpower those sonic waves!"

"That's not what she's trying to do at all," Kaminari said, fists clenched in anticipation. "It's the noise cancelling thing!"

"Jirō-san is trying to buy them some time," Deku deduced, lighting up in realization. "The tank is full of regular fish, but Kōda-kun isn't limited to the animals in the pool!"

"Please, everyone," Kōda exclaimed, hands cupped over his mouth. "My friend and I need help getting out of the water!"

"What the hell?" Kirishima exclaimed. "Kōda can talk?"

Jaws dropped at the sound of his voice, clear and cutting and concise. Gang Orca pushed off the wall to get to Kōda, but Jirō redirected her own sound waves to smash the boulders in the pool, leaving hundreds if not thousands of pieces for the Pro Hero to evade. Under normal circumstances, I knew he was plenty sturdy enough to bulldoze straight through, but it looked like Hatsume's weights did their job.

With Gang Orca thoroughly distracted, the flocks of birds above the tank found an opening to dive down and scoop up Jirō and Kōji. Silver rings signaling another sonic wave whizzed out of the water, but it didn't reach them in time. Higher and higher, the birds flew, and in a matter of minutes they looked like mere specks in the sky.

"They're out!" Ashido shouted, pumping a fist in the air. "Now all they've gotta do is fly to the exit!"

In that moment, Gang Orca shot out of the water. The leap closed the gap between him and them, but before he could open his mouth, the birds carrying Kōda and Jirō dropped the two back into the water and focused on assaulting the Pro Hero en masse. Kaminari shot to his feet, static glistering across his fingers in excitement.

"It was a decoy!"

Birds of all kinds surrounded Gang Orca to the point where he could no longer attack or defend, practically airborne on top of that. Below him, a school of fish carried Jirō and Kōda to the exits.

The buzzer sounded as soon as they stepped foot out of the gates, drowned out by our whoops and cheers. Aizawa-sensei took the chance to speak into the mic connected to each battle zone, and somehow, his words reverberated loudest in that room.

"Jirō Kyoka and Kōda Kōji: pass!"

* * *

The Number Nine Hero Ryukyu was a legend of sorts thanks to the magnificence of her Quirk. I caught glimpses of her dragon form plenty of times across screens not unlike the monitor in front of us, but seeing it in scale compared to Ochako and Ashido counted as an experience in itself.

"Why can't Angel Face just slap her fuckin' hands on that thing and send it flying?" Bakugou asked, arms crossed from his position sprawled on the floor.

I opened my mouth to give an appropriate reply, but decided against it and raised a brow instead. "That's a pretty cute nickname."

"Not when he says it all sneeringly like that," Kirishima teased, toothy grin spreading across his face.

"Talkin' about cute nicknames now, are we?" Kaminari smiled slyly, slinging an arm over my shoulder. "Rei is cool, guppy is pretty cute, too, but I think my favorite—"

My fingers circled his wrist, delicately but with purpose. "I will make sure you won't miss this arm."

"That's a pretty cute nickname," Kaminari parroted, abruptly cutting himself off to face Bakugou. "Why exactly do I get 'Pisshead'?"

"Moving on," I droned, half-heartedly nudging his arm away. "Zero gravity can't do much against a creature with wings."

The three of them stood in an open meadow, giving Ochako little to nothing to use her Quirk on and limiting Ashido's acid to the same handful of attacks and defensive moves. It was a shame considering the pinkette had become rather adept at using it for movement, but grass and soil didn't hold up as well—

"Oh, shit," Bakugou and I uttered at the same time, glancing at each other and then looking up at the screen.

Kirishima blinked, scratching at his cheek. "Are we just going to ignore that happened?"

"What, did you guys have some sort of twin epiphany moment?" Kaminari snorted, leaning back on his hands.

"Ashido might be able to turn that field into a massive pit of quicksand," I said, hugging my knees to my chest. "Considering the sheer size of that dragon, it's probably heavy enough to sink immediately, and that should be enough of a distraction for them to get to the exit."

Sero let out a thoughtful huh from Kaminari's other side. "Not to be a downer, but there's no telling if they'll actually think of that."

"Too late," Bakugou and I said.

Ochako spent the duration of the fight dodging and, unbeknownst to the rest of us, pressing her fingers on every spare leaf and pebble she could find. I didn't pay it much attention at the start of the fight, but the lack of dialogue between her and Ashido reflected a secure strategy in the form of a brilliantly kept secret.

Ryukyu seemed to realize that a bit too late, tail swinging full force in an attempt to knock them off their feet, but two of them managed to dodge. Ashido sped across the corners of the meadow, spurts of acid burning through the dirt until the ground below them turned unstable. Slapping her hands onto her cheeks, Ochako scurried over to do the same to her partner, allowing both girls to wade through the makeshift quicksand with ease.

"Grab onto the capture tape, Mina-chan!"

"Got it!"

"They're not planning to escape?" Momo gasped, hiding her surprise with the back of her hand.

"They don't have much of a choice," Shinsō pointed out. "Even with that quicksand, Ryukyu can fly away at any given moment, and then it'll have been for nothing."

With bated breaths, the rest of our class watched as Ochako spun Ashido in circles, acid spewing like a fountain until she suddenly hurtled towards Ryukyu. No, not towards—Ashido flew straight over her, and I realized the intent behind the action at the same time a couple of others did.

"That was never meant to be an attack," Deku said, brain indubitably on hyperdrive. "Ryukyu's dragon scales are some of the most indestructible substances in the world, but they work best as protection against physical assaults."

"Which means Mina-chan's acid can burn her wings, kero!" Tsuyu exclaimed, inching forward in excitement. "She won't be able to fly away now!"

"Release!"

The piles of random rubble Ochako collected over the course of the eighteen or so minutes since their exam dropped like dead flies, adding an extra layer on top of Ryukyu until the debris all but buried her dragon form.

"Fuck," Bakugou said.

Each leaf, pebble, and bits of bark had needles made out of Ashido's acid attached. If I had to guess, she changed its solubility at the last second to form them, and coupled with one of Ochako's now signature moves, they managed to pin down their opponent long enough for the entirety of her weight to turn the meadow into a gargantuan sinkhole.

"I stand corrected," Sero grinned, breaking the stunned silence. "Looks like a capture to me!"

The buzzer rang with six minutes to spare, and I watched, smile wide, as Ochako and Ashido rushed towards each other with open arms.

"Uraraka Ochako and Ashido Mina: pass!"

"Guess that's us then," Kaminari said, unusually somber as he glanced at his partner.

Deku nodded, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Let's do our best, Kaminari-kun."

* * *

Kamui Woods was slated to become one of the greatest Heroes of the next generation. In terms of brute strength, he was nowhere near a powerhouse like Deku and Kaminari, but he was a lot faster, and electricity did little damage to wood in general. That explained the six minutes remaining on their exam clock as both stood miles away from the forest exit, leaving them with no choice except to fight.

Ashido and Ochako's presence alone proved how long the battle seemed to drag on. Despite sustaining enough minor injuries to require a bit of treatment, the two made it back from Recovery Girl's office in time to catch the last half of the fight.

"Deku-kun can't get any attacks in," Ochako said, biting her lip out of concern. "Kamui Woods is too fast, and on top of that, Kaminari-kun's electricity isn't affecting him at all."

"Fucking Deku is holding back," Bakugou muttered darkly under his breath, lips curled into a sneer. "Pulling his damn punches like that—"

"He can't risk blowing Kaminari away," Kirishima said, shaking his head.

Jirō halted her incessant pacing for only a moment to peek at the dwindling timer. "Five minutes."

"There's a swamp somewhere in that forest," Todoroki said, brows furrowed. "Kaminari's electricity might be more useful in the water."

"I think that's been Deku's plan from the start," I said, knees knocking lightly against his as I pulled them to my chest once more. "But Kamui Woods must've figured as much, too, because he's done a pretty impressive job keeping them away from it."

"Four minutes left, Midoriya," Kaminari huffed, clutching onto a tree trunk to steady himself. "Seriously, dude, don't worry about me! We gotta at least try!"

"I could decimate the entire forest!"

"Something like that!"

Turning her head away from the monitor, Jirō groaned and brought two fingers up to her temples. "That wasn't a suggestion, idiot!"

"Kaminari-kun," Deku paused, ducking to avoid a stray branch aimed at his head. "Ah, alright, I'll do it, but you need to be ready—"

"Yeah, yeah, just leave that to me!"

It felt like the next few moments after that blurred into a continuous series of events. Deku reared his fist, and to my amazement, though lack of bewilderment, a single punch knocked down the hundreds of trees that kept Kamui Woods hidden in plain sight. It did surprise me, however, to find that his arm remained perfectly intact through all of that.

"When did Midoriya-chan get so strong?" Tsuyu asked, surprised.

"Deku's always been strong," I said, smiling a bit. "Looks like he just found a way to show that without completely incapacitating himself."

"Wait, but I don't get it," Kirishima said, shaking his head. "What's the plan here? Kaminari and Midoriya are never going to make it to the swamp in time."

"Keep up, shitty hair," Bakugou said, rolling his eyes. "He's made of fucking wood and they're in a damn forest."

I saw the metaphorical light bulb flickering atop the redhead turn on just as Kaminari stumbled through the rubble and released two million volts of electricity. Despite his less than perfect aim, he made a serious effort in concentrating the attack on the row of trees Deku knocked down. The lightning didn't have much effect at first, but then came a spark, and then another.

And another.

And another.

The flames led them straight to their opponent, eliciting an onslaught of attacks in retaliation. Kamui Woods let it fly quite literally, bark and vines erupting in every direction pointed at the two in the center of the chaos, but Deku threw another punch. Kaminari kept discharging, and though the electricity did little to hurt the Pro Hero, the electricity on its own did more than enough to protect the blond from any incoming projectiles.

"Thirty seconds!" Hagakure screeched.

The resulting smokescreen covered the area from the ground to the treetops, rendering the cameras useless and leaving us and them in the dark. As the light from Kaminari's electricity disappeared, only a glow of flames remained, indicating their location on the map. Ten seconds. Six seconds. Three. Two. One.

"Midoriya Izuku and Kaminari Denki: pass!"

"What the hell?" Sero exclaimed, clutching at his hair in disbelief. "Where's the replay button?"

The fog began to lift, and the sight that greeted us once it completely dissipated left my mouth hanging. Deku and Kaminari stood triumphantly above Kamui Woods as the Pro Hero sprawled himself across the ground, static coursing through his body. I watched Kaminari fumble with the capture tape, hands twitching violently until Deku gently took it out of his hands, and that scene alone made it painfully obvious why the two of them ended up paired together.

Both had Quirks that looked like textbook definitions of a powerhouse on the surface, but lacked the control necessary to hone such power—Deku because of the high risk of self-injury and Kaminari because of his short-circuiting drawbacks. The display of strength they showed today proved for the first time the extent of those abilities without the dangerous ramifications.

"Wood isn't a conductor of electricity," I said, backtracking their last few moves. "But it can be if damp enough and hit with a particularly potent electrical charge."

"How's that possible if they never made it to the swamp?" Ashido asked, her nose and brows scrunching in confusion.

"Warmer air holds more moisture," Momo said, continuing from where I left off. "Midoriya-san's second punch was never intended to be an attack, but rather a device to spread the flames and subsequently increase the temperature in the surrounding area."

"The heat must've turned that forest into a fucking sauna," Bakugou snorted, hands shoved into his pockets. "Pisshead just had to light the place up and the humidity did all the work for him."

"They had to have come up with that plan somehow," I pointed out, bits of pride spreading across my veins. "An amateur would've assumed that the moisture from the vegetation would be a sufficient conductor, but there are a plethora of plants that don't do well around saltwater."

"And that means?" Kirishima asked.

"The ions in the salt conduct the electricity," Bakugou said, rolling his eyes. "Look here," he pointed to a corner of the monitor showing the mess of trees that had been knocked down. "They may not have made it to the swamp, but Deku fucking uprooted that shit."

"That kind of sounded like a compliment."

"I fucking hate him."

"Uprooted what?" Ochako asked, tiptoeing to peer at the screen. "Oh, those trees kind of look like Kamui Wood's attacks!"

"Those are mangrove trees," Momo said, smiling slightly. "Known to tolerate high salinity by filtering water as it enters their roots. Certain species excrete the extracted salt through their leaves, which is likely the case for the ones Midoriya-san managed to knock down."

"And the high voltage obviously wasn't an issue," Shinsō added, lips curling into a smirk. "Who knew Blondie Number Two had it in him?"

"Okay, I get it, and they totally killed it out there, but that was a little too close for comfort," Kirishima sighed, thumping a hand over his chest. "I hope the next team finishes a little faster or I might just have a heart attack."

"Are you stupid?" Bakugou gave him look somewhere between incredulous and unbelievably irritated. "You're next, hair-for-brains!"

Kirishima blanched.

"Shit."

* * *

"Kirishima if you fucking die right now I will fucking kill you myself you fucking piece of—"

"Shut up," I snapped, hand slapped over the blond's mouth. "Kirishima obviously can't hear you and he is obviously not going to die in the middle of an exam."

Bakugou didn't hesitate to elbow me in the gut, but I fell victim to his pointy elbows one too many times and knew to cover my stomach with ice ahead of time. He, of course, fell victim to that trick just as many times and pressed a searing palm against my abdomen, throwing a sucker punch as soon as the frost shielding me dissolved.

"Tell that to the old man with a fucking katana pointed at his throat!"

"That's Yoroi Musha," Momo said, lips upturned into a reprimanding frown. "He's been a respected Hero for years—"

"More like damn centuries—"

"And while I understand that you're worried about Kirishima-san," Momo continued. "Please refrain from insulting those who have paved the way for aspiring Heroes like you and I to be here today."

Kaminari clapped his fellow the blond on the back. "You must feel pretty shitty right about now."

"Fuckin' hate when she gets all preachy," Bakugou said, halting his squirming at last. I prodded my side, purposely wincing, and he rolled his eyes. "You're such fucking baby."

"Don't say that word in front Kaminari," I mumbled, untangling my arms around his neck upon Aizawa-sensei's warning look. "The only reason you don't like Momo lecturing you is because you do, actually, end up feeling bad afterwards."

"He's an Aries and Taurus cusp," Kaminari said. "Makes sense, you know. Bakugou is quite a sensitive soul once you peel off all those thorny layers."

Ashido stared at him and slowly shook her head. "That was weird, but what's weirder is that I'm not even surprised."

"The stars don't lie, Mina-chan," Hagakure said, gloved hand hovering a few feet above the ground. "Your birthday is at the end of July, right? Means you're a Leo, which suits your personality pretty well, if I do say so myself."

"Not to alarm anyone," Sero said, blinking up at the screen. "But I'm pretty sure Kirishima just got stabbed."

"What the fuck did I just say, Guppy?"

"I seriously doubt he's dead."

"Kirishima-san is perfectly fine," Momo mused, tilting her head to the side. "Look, his Quirk is in full effect. I suspect there'll be a victory in their corner within the next few seconds."

"Where did Ojiro-kun—"

Ochako paused mid-sentence as a blur shot across the monitor, lense re-focusing in time to show Ojiro swipe his tail at the back of Yoroi Musha's head. Kirishima took the chance to tug at the blade of the katana he managed to catch with his bare hands and slam his hardened forehead against the Pro Hero's, knocking off the helmet the latter wore to the ground. The impact echoed throughout the empty chamber, and like Momo predicted, the buzzer indicating their success rang even louder.

"Kirishima Ejirō and Ojiro Mashirao: pass!"

"There it is," I said, looking at Bakugou form the corner of my eye. "No need to worry, right?"

"I wasn't."

"Of course not."

"Fuck off, Guppy—"

"Trust and concern are two ends of a double-edged sword. It's okay to believe in him and still be worried about his safety. That's just what friends do," I paused, and he opened his mouth to argue, but I smiled a little too nicely. "Kirishima will be really sad if you deny that."

"I hate your damn lectures even more," Bakugou muttered, stubbornly jerking his head.

"Because I'm always right?"

"Because you're annoying."

"I'll be sure to put that on my resume. It'll rake in the job offers, and when I'm rich and untouchable, I'll be sure to annoy you even more."

* * *

"Kirishima Ejirō and Ojiro Mashirao: pass!"

Aizawa-sensei's voice sounded muddled in his mind, exhaustion setting in soon after his body reverted back into its normal state. Kirishima had to admit that he was pretty proud of himself for maintaining his maximum hardening form for as long as he did, but while it was more than enough for a final exam, it was nowhere near as impressive in the real world. Fifteen seconds saved him from getting stabbed; any less and the blade would've been sticking out of his chest.

"You worked hard," Yoroi Musha said.

Kirishima stumbled to his feet and bent forward at ninety-degrees, the grin on his face decidedly sticking around. I'll think about that later, he thought to himself. Even if it's just a little bit, I deserve to feel good about this, right?

His partner didn't look quite as out of breath, but Kirishima noticed that Ojiro had a slight limp in his step. Just as the redhead opened his mouth to ask if his partner needed help walking back to the viewing room or Recovery Girl's office, he noticed the expression on his face. Furrowed brows, pursed lips, downcast eyes—Kirishima knew he'd seen that look before, but he couldn't place where at that moment.

Kirishima cocked his head to the side, shoving down the memory of Rei telling him the action made him look like a puppy. Who's Ojiro closest to in our class? Hagakure? Shōji? It was a random thought, but the more he juggled it in his brain, the more Kirishima felt bad about not having an answer. Maybe he could do for Ojiro what his friends did for him, at least for now.

"You're awesome, Ojiro," Kirishima said, flashing a thumbs up and his signature grin.

Ojiro smiled the same polite smile he always did, but the redhead had to admit that he was never on the receiving end of it enough to be certain. "It was over kind of fast, wasn't it?"

"That's a good thing," Kirishima said, faltering a bit at the shadows further darkening his partner's expression. "I did say I hoped the next team would finish a little faster. It was my bad that I didn't realize that team was us, but it worked out, huh?"

"But doesn't it bother you that our fight wasn't, I don't know," Ojiro asked, tail swishing idly behind him. "Exciting? At least in comparison to those who've already taken the exam."

"I feel like almost getting stabbed was a little too exciting. But hey, we got to go up against Yoroi Musha! The guy's a legend!"

"Think you'd be able to take on the Number One Hero?"

"Of course," Kirishima said, his puzzlement increasing in conjunction with the ticking seconds. "That's not to say I'd win, but I doubt there's anyone out there who can beat All Might in the first place."

"The match ups make it rather obvious who they believe would have a chance, right?" Ojiro tried to maintain his smile, but his mouth seemed to tighten.

The match ups? Is he talking about Todoroki and Bakugou?

"Ah, we debunked that in, like, two seconds," Kirishima said, chuckling at the thought. "It's not so much that Todoroki and Bakugou are the only ones who can take on All Might, but that All Might is the only one who can take on Todoroki and Bakugou."

"Because he's the strongest Hero—"

"Nah," Kirishima said, shaking his head. "Because he's the only one who understands. Rei said it better than I ever could, but I think I get the gist of it. 'Saving people with a smile,' and all that."

"Those two want to be Number One more than anyone, and nobody knows what it's like to be at the top more than All Might himself. There's not much he can teach them about physical strength, but—you know what he always says, right? 'To save people with a smile?' I bet they can learn a lot about why that's important."

"I don't," Ojiro admitted, tail softly stroking his bad ankle. "Sorry, by the way, I know I'm rambling."

Kirishima clapped him on the back. "How very Midoriya of you."

"Oh, no, I'm not like him at all," Ojiro murmured, staring at the cracks in the cement. "Midoriya's proven to be quite extraordinary. Kaminari, too, after the midterms and their match against Kamui Woods."

It hit him with as much force as a punch in the face from his hardened fist. His words, his actions, his eyes—Kirishima's final year in middle school was one of the worst in his life because that same expression greeted him in the mirror every morning and every night. Sure, he could rely on his Quirk, and that was something he took pride in now, but at that time he would've traded it for anything else in the world.

Ojiro was an exact replica of his middle school self, all torn up about not being good enough simply because he didn't stand out the same way everyone else did. Most days it was accompanied by constant whispers in his ears and a sense of dread that intensified once Ashido was introduced into his life.

"The devil works hard," Kirishima muttered under his breath. But I'll be damned if I don't work harder. "Listen, man, you can't compare yourself to someone like Midoriya or Bakugou or Todoroki. You can't compare yourself to anyone period."

"Easier said than done," Ojiro said wryly, nonplussed about being caught red handed.

Kirishima shook his head again. "I get it, trust me, I do, but being a Hero isn't about the flashy Quirks at all."

It continued to be a work in progress, but Kirishima liked to think he had gotten much better at quieting the voices. Every time the devil on his shoulder told him he was worthless, a little chibi Bakugou popped out of his consciousness and punch the sucker in the face. Lately, Rei and her crimson stare stopped his demons in their tracks—Kirishima always loved the color red, but those two made him appreciate it even more. His favorite, though, if he was being honest, was Kaminari annoying it to death.

To be a Hero meant being in the spotlight, standing out, doing something worthwhile. It wasn't until he started attending Yūei that he realized those things didn't have to be mutually exclusive. People who didn't do anything worthwhile wormed their way into the spotlight—Kirishima didn't want to be like that. He could stand out without being in the spotlight. He could do something worthwhile without standing out.

"I can't blow stuff up or set things on fire or smash an entire building with a single punch," Kirishima said, looking up at the cameras still circling the field. His friends were watching, and the thought made him smile. "But I can do something, and I guess I just figured that if I can do that much, well then, why wouldn't I?"

"You saved my ass a bunch of times back there, Ojiro, and a couple of times you got hurt because of it. I could say something like, hey, sorry I couldn't protect you, but that'd be dumb and I'd feel like an asshole, because even if you think it's small or not worth acknowledging, there's only thing you can say to someone who did something to help—"

Kirishima beamed.

"Thank you."

Ojiro looked at Kirishima not for the first time, but it sort of felt like that in the moment. He never considered them anything more than classmates, acquaintances at best, and though it was unlikely that they'd become friends after a single heartfelt conversation, something about his words made him think it wouldn't be so bad if they did.

Before either could say anything else (Ojiro doubted whatever he thought to reply would do justice to Kirishima's words, anyway), one of the cameras suddenly appeared in front of them, screen blank until their homeroom teacher suddenly appeared looking visibly unimpressed.

"You're loitering," Aizawa-sensei said. "The Top Ten have better things to do than wait around for you. Get to Recovery Girl's office now."

Kirishima laughed, lightly but loudly, as the camera hovered off. "Bet he's stressed about those appearance fees."

"He's right," Ojiro said, smiling slightly. "We've been here a while. My fault."

"No way, I was the one talking your ear off," Kirishima protested, finally reaching over to sling his partner's arm around his shoulder.

Ojiro didn't complain, tail keeping close to the ground to help steady their balance. "And I appreciate it, Kirishima. I'll be sure to think about what you said. I'm sorry you had to deal with that, though."

"Shouldn't you be saying 'thank you?'" Kirishima grinned, and the laugh he earned in return made that bit of scolding from Aizawa-sensei worth it.

Not just that.

Kirishima thought about the mornings he woke up so miserable and alone, questioning his purpose and his worth. He thought about looking in the mirror and hoping he'd wake up the next day and be greeted with another face with another Quirk with another personality, cooler, funnier, manlier to boot.

He never wanted to have those thoughts again, and if he had to be honest, revisiting those memories now stung a little space in chest. But if he could use them to comfort someone who felt even a fraction of that heartache—because yeah, hating yourself even a little bit was pretty damn heartbreaking—maybe he could learn to be strong like that, too.

"Save people with a smile," huh?

* * *

Midway through the next fight, I made the executive decision to pull Tokoyami and Aoyama aside for an overdue conversation—maybe explanation was a better word for it. Given the words my mom is your next opponent didn't leave them totally blindsided, I couldn't think of a reason why they would have anything to say about it save for the usual.

"I know."

But that was not the usual.

"Or I assumed," Aoyama rectified. "It's rather difficult to believe no one else put the pieces together when you've so obviously inherited her essence."

Tokoyami had the decency to look taken aback, but Aoyama smiled like he did, in fact, know all this time. I couldn't tell why that irritated me nor could I say with certainty that him knowing ticked me off in the first place. Most people didn't spill their best kept secret and expect to hear I know in return. I was probably just peeved that he managed to catch me off guard.

"I figured both of you could use the heads up," I said, casting a fleeting glance at the monitor. The camera must've been pointed at Hagakure at the moment because I saw nothing on the screen. "My mother's Quirk traps people in shadows. Or at least, that's the short version."

"That is my utmost concern," Tokoyami sighed, pinching the bridge of his beak. "The weights should weaken her enough where I am not completely overpowered by her Quirk, but I doubt they will be much help protecting us from my own."

"Us?"

Tokoyami hesitated, his cloak rustling. It was common knowledge that Dark Shadow couldn't hurt him due to their symbiotic relationship, but I knew from the start that wasn't his implication.

"Aoyama."

The person in question let out a hm? in response, ever present smile unfaltering despite the blatant discussion concerning his safety. I wouldn't say he and Tokoyami considered themselves close, and I'd be even slower to admit that he and I could be called friends even remotely, but something about that smile unnerved me, replacing the annoyance previously simmering under my skin with a keen sense of foreboding.

"What do you propose we do to prevent that?" Aoyama asked, bringing a hand to his chin.

"I've tried to think of blueprints that attempt to provide for all possible contingencies," Tokoyami said, taking a moment to peek through the imperceptible crack in the doorway allowing small beams of sunlight to trickle into the room. "But it seems each one of them brings me to the same conclusion."

"And that is…?"

"While Kamino is," Tokoyami paused, looking over at me as if to gauge my reaction, and then carrying on when I gave none. "More than qualified to take me and Dark Shadow out should the situation call for it, I can't promise Aoyama won't be caught in the process. When that happens, please," he turned to his partner, steely in his resolve. "Do what you must to keep yourself safe."

Despite the fact that our practical is worth a whopping forty percent of our grade, the matter at hand couldn't be considered urgent. USJ was urgent. The Children's Day incident was urgent. A final exam moderated by some of the most trusted Heroes and staff our highly esteemed school had to offer? Not urgent.

But we knew better than anyone that desperate times often didn't start with red flags raised. I woke up on the morning of those events thinking it would be just another day, the same as I did before our practical. The fact that a precaution was necessary sat ill in my stomach, but all things considered, I didn't blame Tokoyami for not wanting to risk it, even if the danger he felt such concern about happened to be himself.

"As you wish."

My attention shifted and I found myself staring at the blond like I saw him for the first time. I didn't know him well enough to expect anything of him, but truth be told, I assumed to some extent that he'd protest at least a little bit. To expect others to act in a certain manner, to be selfless at all times; I recognized that inherent greed the instant it surfaced and tried to bury it into the ground.

"You have every right to take my proposition into full consideration," Tokoyami said, his eyes wide as Dark Shadow grew restless beneath the linen draping his body.

"There is nothing to consider, monsieur," Aoyama said breezily, flicking his fringe out of his eyes with his index finger. "I have little else to offer our class of luminaries. If the only way I can help is to remove myself from the equation, then so be it."

Disagreeing would be disrespectful because we both knew it was true, perhaps only somewhat, but still the truth. Aoyama didn't have a particularly strong presence in the class, though I could at least say with sureness that it was because I spent most of my time with a ragtag bunch of thieves with no sense of self-preservation; of course my attention would be elsewhere.

Choosing to agree would be insensitive and even further from the truth. I could say with equal certainty that it wasn't that Aoyama had little to offer. He just didn't have an incentive to make the same kind of decisions that led Todoroki and Bakugou and Midoriya to be at the top of the potential future number one Hero list. In all fairness, not many people did.

"Seems like my mother will be given a run for her money," I murmured, deciding on neither option.

Aoyama turned towards me, eyes twinkling. "Why do you say that, mademoiselle?"

Some people in our class were closer than others, and based on the interactions I'd seen, I didn't think there was one person Aoyama could say, "I know this person better than anyone else," about. I didn't have to be that person. It was just about time I stopped holding him accountable for whatever preconceived misconceptions I had in my head.

"You're very spirited," I said, not exactly uncomfortable but feeling a little out of place. "It'll keep her on her toes, and that's something she appreciates in people."

"You're rather spirited yourself, no?"

"Comme ci, comme ça."

"Oh?" Aoyama smiled, softer this time, like he actually meant it. "You speak French?"

"My piano teacher was from Paris and I just remember bits and pieces of phrases she taught me. Are you fluent?"

"In French, oui, but I'm afraid I lack any sort of musical prowess."

"You play piano as well, Higuchi?" Tokoyami asked, sounding amused. "I should've expected that."

"I guess the one thing we all got out of this is that we still have a lot to learn from each other," I said, lips twitching into a more genuine smile of my own. "We should fix that, t'sais. Ça vous dit?"

"I have no idea what you just said to me," Tokoyami deadpanned.

Aoyama laughed suddenly, and I was vaguely impressed that it sounded like bells. "Peut-être que je pourrais vous apprendre le Français, mon ami?"

"Bits and pieces," I emphasized, though I managed a small smile. "But yes, I'd like that. You and Dark Shadow are invited, too, Tokoyami."

"To what?"

* * *

Shōji and Hagakure passed with ample time to spare, which brought us to the halfway point and one of the matches I anticipated the most. I'd hoped to catch Iida on his way to the battlegrounds, but he managed to slip out of the viewing room as the rest of us wished Sero good luck.

I'd known off the bat why Kamihara-sensei was chosen to be their opponent, but it became even clearer once I saw the field they would be fighting on. It was an empty room not much bigger than the one we occupied right now, and the lack of furniture or windows made it look like a box.

Iida and Sero both depended on their Quirks to get around. Being trapped in such an enclosed space would hinder their movements and make it virtually impossible for them to attack head on. The fact that Kamihara-sensei could transform faster than the speed of sound probably didn't offer any semblance comfort.

"Your mentor is a freakin' beast," Kaminari said, gaping at the monitor.

Bakugou snorted, lips curling into something between a sneer and a smirk. "Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum are gonna get their asses beat."

"How are they supposed to win if they can't even see where he's going to strike next?" Jirō asked, leering at the crimson eyed blond beside me. "And where the heck do you get all of these pop culture references?"

"Don't sound so surprised, Fiddle Fingers, I'm cultured as fuck."

"Fiddle Fingers?"

"Like I said, annoying, right?"

"Who's fucking annoying around here besides you, Guppy?"

I opened my mouth to retort, but a loud gasp cut me off. Momo stared at the screen with wide eyes, and I followed her gaze to a sight I never expected to see.

The room was in shambles, as in absolutely destroyed, and the camera pointed at Sero as he helped Iida out of the rubble. Kamihara-sensei was tangled in a slew of tape for the sole purpose of doing his part because it took him about two seconds to free himself from his prison once the final buzzer rang.

"Sero Hanta: pass!"

"How did that end so fast?" Kaminari asked, turning to Aizawa-sensei in unconcealed shock. "And why is Sero the only one who passed?"

"Because Iida had the chance to escape and he didn't take it," Aizawa-sensei said, fiercer than I'd heard him speak in a while.

Kirishima shook his head several times in disbelief. "That doesn't make any sense, the timer must've gone off—"

The playback started in the midst of the steady silence. The camera barely caught a blur that could've only been Kamihara-sensei as he sped across the room while Sero and Iida did their best to dodge. The roof caved in out of nowhere and an even slower playback showed Iida using Recipro Burst to decimate the building, but instead of heading to the exit he flung Sero out past the rubble and stayed in place until the timer hit zero.

Like Kirishima, I could've argued that he didn't have time to make it out before the buzzer went off, but I managed to count the spare seconds, and all of us knew that for someone with his Quirk, the only way for him to have missed an opportunity like that was indeed because he had no intention of taking it.

"Why would Iida-kun do that?" Midoriya mumbled, fingers clutching at his curls. "Why would he just throw the match?"

Ochako glanced at him, eyes wrinkled in concern. "What's going to happen to him, Aizawa-sensei?"

"Those who fail the final exam will be exempt from the summer training camp in order to complete remedial classes," Aizawa-sensei said, his expression eerily blank despite the harshness of his tone. "No exceptions."

"Did he know about that?" Midoriya asked. "Before the match started?"

Aizawa-sensei paused, a split-second of hesitation that I would've never noticed had I not been already looking at him so intently.

"Yes."

Iida was aware beforehand that if he failed the final exam, he'd be left behind while the rest of us headed off to training camp. I couldn't say how well he did on the written exams, but the weight of the practical was heavy enough that failing it meant an automatic fail in general. He knew that. The only reason I could come up with to answer the why didn't make any sense because it added onto the questions. He threw the match to fail, to stay behind all by himself.

But why?

Midoriya sucked in a breath and I looked at him, startled, but felt even more surprised when his eyes scanned through the cluster of classmates to meet mine with urgency. His bottom lip trembled and his mouth drew together to whisper something that left my blood frozen.

Hero Killer.

"May I be excused?" I asked, my voice sounding robotic even to my own ears.

Aizawa-sensei gave me a look too specific for it not to be some kind of warning, but said, "Be back in five."

I bolted out the door, and though I expected Deku to follow, Todoroki and Bakugou bounded after us in quick strides, stacking onto my increasing levels of stupefaction. Aizawa-sensei didn't say anything, but I tried not to look at Momo or Ochako on the way out knowing fully well that whatever expression my face held would betray me in an instant. I could fill them in later.

"He's going after the Hero Killer," Deku blurted out, hushed but frantic as soon as we stepped outside.

Bakugou frowned. "Hero Killer?"

"They have unfinished business," Todoroki mumbled, hands shoved into his pockets. "It seems Iida wants to settle the score."

I wanted to say revenge something cool or helpful like revenge isn't everything, but it would've made me a hypocrite because I still didn't know if I'd do the same given the chance to find my father. Or maybe I should have considered them two different things. Point was that Iida kept spiraling in a direction we couldn't seem to follow.

"We can't just not go to the training camp," I said, back pressed against the wall. "It'll tip Iida off and cause an even bigger commotion if we happen to be completely wrong."

"But we have to tell someone," Deku protested, fists clenched. "Aizawa-sensei or All Might or—"

Bakugou clicked his tongue, jerking his head towards the door. "Can this thing take a hit?"

"The box is designed to be as indestructible as an armored tank," I replied, frowning. "What're you thinking?"

Bakugou slammed his palm against the wall and set off a relatively harmless explosion. In the same breath, Jirō let out a yelp from inside that seemed to be muffled by a hand, likely courtesy of a certain blond.

"Plusle and Minun know," Bakugou said, rolling his eyes. "I bet Koro-sensei does, too, which is probably the only reason he even let us outside. Hell, Four Eyes and Sticky Shit might be on their way back right now, and then it'll be a fuckin' free for all."

"Higuchi is right," Todoroki said, shaking his head. "We can't just drop everything to stop an event that hasn't even happened yet."

"What the fuck do you think prevention means, dumbass—"

"The rest of us are going to pass our practicals and head to training camp," I said firmly, arms crossed. "We're going to ask Aizawa-sensei to make sure Iida isn't left alone, and we're going to talk to Iida because talking about him behind his back doesn't help anyone."

Deku let out a deep breath, full of desire yet lacking a distinguishable sense of longing. The difference was subtle, but the fact that it was present was just so him. A dictionary definition explained that the latter was a "strong, persistent desire or craving, especially for something unattainable or distant."

To long for something meant deciding it was an impossibility and forfeiting the belief that that which one desires is somewhere within reach. Deku still believed he could hold out a hand and find Iida in his grasp. He wanted to help, and looking at him now, I knew there was no way he was going to give up without a fight.

But then Deku deflated, and in the smallest voice I'd ever heard from him, he murmured, "I don't think that's good enough."

Because Iida hadn't been listening to us for the past couple of weeks, and he wouldn't listen to us now. Because there was only so much Aizawa-sensei could do without making him feel like he was being held prisoner in his own home. Because all the rest of us had to worry about these days is passing our final exams while he was left in a head riddled with regrets. Because we noticed too early and acted too late.

I didn't have the heart to tell him I thought the same.

* * *

 **postscript**

hello rightful number three hero hawks nice of u to finally drop by (✿◡‿◡) as u can see canon heckin' flipped in this chapter but i hope u found the change interesting! the next chapter marks the end of the final exams n will include proper explanations regarding why the top ten were called in for the practical, why hawks is on a mission, why iida threw the match n by extension what's gonna happen to him as a result,,, basically,,, lots comin' right up pls anticipate

i should warn u now that after final exams will be the two heroes arc but training camp will be right after that so i'll do my best to cram the movie into one chapter for those who want to wait to watch it before reading (that way u also won't have to read the chapter in order to understand w/ future ones)

SPEAKING OF TWO HEROES

no spoilers but i got to watch it in theaters last week n it was honestly the Best movie experience of my Life asjkhbfdksj the cheers got progressively louder as each character was introduced starting w/ already fricken thunderous applause for kirishima, near standing ovation for bakugou,, n of course,,,, felt like there was an actual earthquake happening when todoroki made his debut

anyway i know there was a lot to unpack in this chapter n i apologize for skimming over the fights vs crust n yoroi musha but since their quirks haven't been explicitly mentioned n i didn't wanna butcher their characters i just went ahead n threw in some insight on a few others in class 1-a to compensate

if u follow me on tumblr (BTW I DREW REI I'LL REBLOG IT SO IT SHOWS UP AT THE TOP LOL) u might remember when i said at this point in the story rei probably got along w/ ashido n aoyama the least solely bc she couldn't quite grasp their characters n while last chapter was mina's time to shine i tried to share some of the spotlight on monsieur fuga here, definitely the tip of the iceberg but like they mentioned a couple of times ppl usually don't become bffs w/ someone after one conversation u kno? that said i have to say the two scenes i enjoyed writing most was the conversation between kirishima n ojiro (which i've had in the back of my head for a while now) n that moment w/ todoroki n rei in the viewing room when they're sort of just basking in the blue light n each other's company bc i'm a big fat SIMP

coming up w/ how all of the matches turned out was a lot of fun too but it was fricken HARD if u want i can post a pic of my sad attempt at brainstorming on the blog to show u how upside down my head was bc of it but yeah i liked the process of deciding who was paired up with who, which teams fought which heroes, n most importantly how each battle was going to unfold (୨୧ ❛ᴗ❛)✧ hope i did them justice! four more left n the only reason this arc is split into multiple chapters is bc those four definitely needed their own chapter oof

ok im rambling again sry sjkhdfnskljnf im just hype bc as much as i loved the lil slice of life break last chapter ive also been itching to progress w/ some plot (don't worry the next few chapters will have a healthy dose of both) might take some time bc midterms are creeping up but i'll do my best to finish the second part soon! as always i appreciate all the support n all of u ❀.(*´◡`*).❀

thank u for reading


	24. Overture

No copyright infringement intended.

* * *

—

 **XIV. Overture**

—

* * *

"You would've been a formidable opponent."

Tokoyami Fumikage grimaced, perhaps aware of the unsaid 'but' trailing at the end of her sentence. He certainly couldn't comprehend much else. Mikoto had trapped him in a pitch black cage no more than a handful of seconds after the timer started, and the sentient manifestation of his own darkness went berserk in an instant.

"'Would've been'?" Tokoyami asked, teeth grinding.

Mikoto stared at him for a moment, thinking arbitrarily that sleep did not treat her kindly the same way it did the growing boy. It seldom came when she was a student in university, and by the time she became a Pro Hero some years later, she considered herself lucky if the Sandman decided to pay her a visit at all. Doctors hypothesized that her insomnia could be hereditary, but the truth was much simpler than that.

"In order to control the shadows," she said, crimson irises gleaming. "You must grow accustomed to the moon."

Despite noble attempts to hold onto whatever remained of his strength, Tokoyami felt his consciousness slip from his grasp just as the buzzer sounded. Mikoto laid him next to his partner and waited until the medics arrived to carry them away before disappearing in a swirl of black, admittedly disappointed, though not surprised.

" _Tokoyami Fumikage and Aoyama Yūga: pass!_ "

The match started and ended the same way: Dark Shadow managed to break the two out of her prison in the same minute she caged them, and the next few moments after that had been a struggle to merely pacify the creature as it ran amok seconds after throwing both students out the exit. Some might say it was an impressive feat to overcome, but Mikoto knew better than that.

Tokoyami considered his Quirk an anomaly that needed to be contained, but suppressing his powers served as a temporary solution to something inherently permanent. Letting Dark Shadow loose compared to opening Pandora's Box only because people, including his host, treated him as such.

Darkness was not chaos.

Mikoto spent far too many years adjusting to accept that. Tokoyami Fumikage might have passed the exam, but he could not move forward without having the same sort of epiphany. He had the determination. He had the strength. He had the potential. Hawks all but scratched the surface during their short time together for Yūei's internships, and the next step required finding his motivation.

 _Speaking of Hawks…_

Light filtered through her vision and a second later Mikoto arrived in the barracks. Kamihara and a less than thrilled Todoroki Enji sat idly waiting for the next match to start, which happened to pit the latter against her darling daughter. Part of her wanted to stick around and see how Reiko would fare in such a fight, but their duties as Heroes required focus on a different set of priorities.

"The League of Villains have been informed of our presence here," Mikoto said, tapping at her phone. "It appears Hawks has indeed successfully infiltrated their ranks."

"You tipped them off again?" Enji asked, eyeing the device in her hands.

" _More like dropped the bomb,_ " Hawks said, his voice slightly muffled. " _There was supposed to be a follow up operation at Yūei, but it looks like they've postponed their advancements until the end of the term._ "

"Training camp is scheduled to proceed in spite of the recent events, which means it doesn't matter if their target is the school," Kamihara said, turning to Mikoto in feigned sympathy. "It might be time to consider transfer options, you know. I heard Shiketsu has a pool."

" _So does Yūei_."

"I don't recall that."

" _Because you're old_ —"

"Is there a way for the League to know about the camp?" Mikoto interrupted, noting the noise of confirmation on the other line. "And how exactly did you find out about it?"

" _A little birdy told me_ ," an image of the student she sent to the infirmary came to mind. " _I also mentioned All Might wasn't going to be there, but weirdly enough that just seemed to encourage them even more. I don't think he's their target this time._ "

"I doubt it's Eraserhead or Thirteen," Kamihara said, fingertips drumming against his chin. "That just leaves the students, unfortunately."

" _Well, I mean, they managed to hold their own during both the USJ attack and the Children's Day incident. It's not exactly shocking that one or more of them attracted some unwanted attention._ "

"Your kids are probably on that list," Kamihara pointed out, shrugging when the two parents in the room glowered at him. "What? Have you seen your children?"

" _We have to consider all possible outcomes_ ," Hawks sighed, his demeanor unusually wary. " _I hate to say it, especially since the kids are involved, but from the way the guys around here are acting…_ "

Enji growled. "Out with it."

" _The target is someone they don't think we're going to miss very much._ "

* * *

"Are you nervous?"

I tore my gaze away from the Pro Hero on the opposite side of the field and turned to Tsuyu, head tilted and tongue peeking out of her mouth as per usual. It didn't look like she felt particularly anxious about our match herself, but I noted her curled fingers and the straightness of her shoulders. Tsuyu was definitely nervous. And I didn't blame her.

"Maybe a little bit," I said, bringing a hand to the flask at my waist. "I'm not excited about the field disadvantage, but I guess we'll just have to make due."

'Make due' put it lightly considering we had to go up against the _Flame Hero_ in an _active volcanic zone_. I noticed the debilitating lack of moisture in our surroundings as soon as we arrived, and the fact that both of us felt especially vulnerable in the heat left us all but defenseless in a magma-filled sauna. As I coated her suit with a thin layer of water, I wondered if Tsuyu could tell I was nervous, too.

"We'll do our best, Rei-chan," Tsuyu said, beaming in thanks.

Little to no other resources meant that depleting my reserve of liquid had the potential to turn a bad situation into a worst case scenario. I didn't think Endeavor favored tactical arrangements in place of brute force, and even the most well thought out strategies would be pointless if we couldn't defend ourselves from—

 _Beep._

 _Beep._

 _Beep._

"Begin!"

I didn't even have time to finish my thought before a spiral of flames came roaring in our direction. Tsuyu jumped out of the way and flung me behind her with a swipe of her tongue, but another flamethrower ripped through the smoke in the next second. My hands shot out and halted the attack, taking out about a third of the liquid in my flask.

"Are we sticking to the original plan?" Tsuyu asked, hopping alongside me as we took the chance to sprint towards the exit.

I nodded briskly, adding, "I don't think we have much of a choice."

The distance between our starting position and the exit looked like a little less than a mile, and the distance between us and Endeavor even shorter. I still had enough stored liquid to block at least another attack or two, but we had to make sure he didn't get close enough to throw any punches. As much as I hated to admit it, that meant the plan pretty much devolved into a simple run and don't look back.

"His Quirk is incredibly versatile," I said, leaping over a larger fissure on the ground. "We have to be prepared for—"

A blast of fire missed us by inches, sending me and Tsuyu tumbling to the side. I picked myself up just in time to see a bulky silhouette step into our vicinity.

"That?" Tsuyu gasped.

For the umpteenth time, a burst of flames interrupted before I could properly respond. Liquid flew out of my flask to create a protective wall, inevitably boiling into nothingness, but it managed to withstand the heat long enough to keep us unharmed.

"Two thirds of my reserve are gone," I muttered, frowning. "I didn't think—"

"Move!"

Tsuyu hurled me a good ten feet away and I grunted at the impact, flinching at the sight of the scorched rocks where I once stood. My earlier conversation with Todoroki momentarily slipped into my thoughts; it wasn't that I didn't believe him when he said his father wouldn't hold back, but I didn't think it'd be to the point where we could barely finish our sentences without nearly getting barbecued.

"That's getting really annoying," I mumbled, crimson eyes narrowed at the figure steadily approaching us. "I—"

"Don't have time to keep playing games, little girl."

Despite the surge of high temperature that came with his presence, the blood in my veins turned ice cold. Endeavor appeared out of nowhere, an open palm aimed at my face and the other pointed directly at Tsuyu. I found the courage to look at him, blistering amidst the smoke. Not like the sun, not like his son—more like a forest fire spreading soundly and then coming to collect.

I stared into the fire as it came out of his fingertips and yet I couldn't bring myself to move. I subconsciously used another wave of liquid to soften the blow, but it was a clumsy reaction triggered by the bare minimum reflex and did little to numb the hurt. Wisps of flames licked at my skin and devoured it without a second thought.

And then I burned.

It didn't feel like a punch in the face or a sharp point breaking skin, not the instantaneous sort of pain that came and left like a hit and run or ripping off a bandaid. The calefaction ensued at an agonizing pace, and I couldn't bare to imagine how much worse it would've been if Endeavor used his Quirk at its max capacity.

Tsuyu slammed her tongue onto the ground and launched herself into the air at the last second, avoiding the attack completely save for the charred marks on the soles of her boots. I didn't even feel her drag me away until she propped me up against a rock and the rough surface touched my skin.

"Are you okay, Rei-chan?" Tsuyu asked, eyes drooping in worry.

I sucked in a deep breath, immediately regretting the action when I inhaled a fistful of ash. Nodding, I focused on soothing my left shoulder with the slight amounts of liquid I had left, knowing it had taken the brunt of the attack. My bodysuit was made out of a protective material that fortunately saved me from any critical damage, but that didn't mean I didn't feel like shit.

"I'm fine," I rasped, coughing from the smoke polluting the area and my lungs. "Or not, but I will be."

"Good," Tsuyu said, tugging on my sleeve. "Because I have an idea."

"What—"

Tsuyu smiled and brought a finger to her lips, then promptly disappeared. I recognized the look of sheer resolve in her expression as she left, but I didn't have time to dwell on it before I heard a noise of disapproval and looked up to find Endeavor too close for comfort, his face twisted into a scowl.

"Camouflage," Endeavor muttered.

Unlike Todoroki, the Hellflame Quirk allowed Endeavor to create and control fire at his will. I heard countless tales of its strength over the years and how even the Pro Hero himself struggled to maintain his stamina when using it at full power. His fist extended as if charging another attack, and not a second later, a blitz erupted from his hands.

 _Wait—_

Tsuyu reappeared in front of him, crouched down low and perspiring profusely but otherwise unscathed. At this point, Endeavor slowed down minutely, using his Quirk close to one hundred percent as possible. Hatsume's weights nerfed its strength immensely, but the drawbacks appeared to be the same. Endeavor overexerted himself to the point of exhaustion because, as Todoroki predicted, he couldn't hold back.

 _You're a genius, Tsuyu._

I uncapped my flask and fired a barrage of bullets at Endeavor at the same time Tsuyu spit out a glob of acid in his face. His hands thrust out on either side of him and the two of us scrambled to dodge. Smoke and steam created a thick haze that became impossible to see through due to soot and ash free falling from the artificial skies, but that didn't mean we couldn't use the small amount at our disposal. My palm slammed against the rocks and the Hero disappeared in a cloud of dense fog, illuminated by the flames across his body.

"Tsuyu," I called out, blinking as she suddenly reappeared beside me. "That was awesome and all, but we still have to get him to use more of his flames if we want to outrun him to the finish line."

"This is an active volcano site," Tsuyu said, springing forward to avoid a sudden burst of lava. "If we can get him to use the flames here in addition to his own, do you think that'll be enough?"

"I highly doubt it."

I felt my muscles stiffen at his voice, grimacing as my injured shoulder contracted at the action. I used the last of the liquid in my flask to put out another miniature eruption ahead of us. Tsuyu and I ran without end in severe heat and used our Quirks nearly as often as our opponent. I expected the exhaustion and depletion, but I didn't count on stubbornness as a Todoroki family trait, and now the timing couldn't have been any worse.

All of a sudden, Tsuyu wretched beside me. I turned to look at her in surprise and concern when I realized she didn't throw up bile, but rather spit out an unfamiliar object.

"What just happened?" I asked, gaping at the vial in her hands.

Tsuyu grinned weakly, huffing to catch her breath. "I can swallow objects and store them in my stomach."

"Useless party tricks," Endeavor said, taking a step forward. "Is that the best you can do?"

My fingers twitched at my sides, and through my own exhaustion I felt the annoyance from earlier creep up again. I didn't want to believe he looked straight at me when he said that.

"We have to go now, Rei-chan," Tsuyu whispered, pitching the container into the air. "Our last resort is a gift from Bakugou-chan!"

It felt like everything started moving in slow motion again, if not even slower than before. Tsuyu grabbed me by the waist and bounded for the exit just as Endeavor shot at the vial with a burst of fire.

 _A gift from Bakugou?_

The glass shattered like the metaphorical light bulb above my head as Endeavor's flames came into contact with the nitroglycerin-infused sweat. The resulting explosion ripped out all of the oxygen in my lungs, but it also kept our opponent at a distance and sent Tsuyu and I flying straight for the exit.

 _We're so close._

The two of us came inches away from escaping when another crack in the rocks us gave way to a river of lava. Gravity without Ochako worked against us and Tsuyu and I started falling too fast for either of us to change our momentum, no place to land aside from the boiling rocks.

 _I have to do_ _ **something**_ _._

I felt the adrenaline shoot to my brain, and the closer we came to the ground, the more the pulsing in my temples magnified to unbearable extremes. I stared hard at the bubbles in the pool of lava beneath us, breath caught in my throat. It almost looked like water. Or blood. I could control water. I could control blood. My hands moved before I processed the action, and then—

" _Higuchi Reiko and Asui Tsuyu: pass!_ "

The molten rock had split apart.

* * *

Midoriya stared at the monitor in the same silence his classmates occupied. He spared a glance at their teacher and found that Aizawa-sensei wasn't quite as stunned as the rest of them, but his expression indicated a shared curiosity, which all but confirmed that what they had just witnessed actually happened.

The first of two things felt like a dreadful sort of elephant in the room. In spite of his weakened state, Endeavor showed no mercy to the two girls who already had a massive Quirk disadvantage against him. Midoriya felt his heart plummet multiple times throughout the match, more often than not because either Tsuyu or Rei found themselves caught in the line of literal fire.

And then Rei controlled the lava.

Shocked didn't quite sound like the right word to use, and though Midoriya forgot to pick up his jaw a few seconds after dropping it, the surprise didn't leave him immobile. His concern for his friends made him halt, a stark contrast to the distant triumph he felt beneath all of the worry. Rei controlled the lava.

"What a fucking idiot," Bakugou said, head falling back in exasperation.

Kirishima groaned, tugging at his hair. "Man, she's going to be totally wiped out!"

"It'll probably take longer than usual for her to wake up," Kaminari added, shoulders slumped. "Recovery Girl's Quirk won't be much help if she doesn't have the energy to heal herself, but I'll bet the heat gave her dehydration on top of the exhaustion."

"I don't know about the rest of you, but I think I'm missing something," Ashido said, frowning at the redhead and two blonds. "They passed, right?"

"Lava is essentially molten rock, which contains an array of liquid properties," Yaoyorozu said, biting at her lower lip. "It's not so far-fetched that Rei can manipulate it to some extent."

"I'm sensing a 'but,'" Jirō said, frowning.

"Rei's body can't handle the physical strain caused by her Quirk," Midoriya elaborated, pausing only for a moment to let out a sigh of concern for his friend. "I don't think she's ever tried to use it on something as out of the box as lava before today, which means she's even less prepared for the repercussions."

"Wow," Hagakure said, her tone betraying her surprise. "I knew you were all friends, but I didn't realize just how close."

Midoriya regarded her general direction with a slight smile, noting a second later that a head of red and white also seemed to disappear. He glanced at Uraraka from the corner of his eye and felt his grin slip at the frown on her face, but all of a sudden she caught his gaze, the corners of her mouth curling upward.

"I know she'll be fine," Uraraka said, shoulders rising and falling. "It's normal to worry, though, right?"

Midoriya dutifully nodded. "Right."

"Tsuyu-chan was so amazing," she added. "I can't believe she even managed to get that sample from Bakugou! Who would've thought he'd agree to that?"

"Shut the fuck up, Chippy."

Uraraka gasped and spun around to give the blond an ear full, but he trudged past her without another word. "That better not be short for what I think it is!"

 _Kacchan, Todoroki-kun…_

Midoriya realized that the worry in his chest now extended to Todoroki and his childhood friend. Their absence reminded him of the last match to come, and after watching Rei, Asui, Tokoyami, and Aoyama go up against the two Heroes closest in strength to their opponent, barely passing at the expense of spending longer than normal at the infirmary—

 _Good luck._

He couldn't help but wonder if someone like the Symbol of Peace would let the same thing happen to them.

* * *

"Let's go, icy hot."

Todoroki stood from his seat beside the cot, gaze briefly flickering back to the sleeping girl in front of him. He didn't think much of it when he left for the infirmary, maybe even expected a few of the others to follow once they realized he had gone ahead, but it surprised him a bit to see Bakugou waiting for him outside instead of someone like Yaoyorozu or Uraraka.

"What are you doing here?" Todoroki asked, glancing at the blond from the corner of his eye. "You don't have to worry about the match. I'm not going to fail."

"Get your head out of your ass," Bakugou said, frowning. "If I was going to waste my time worrying about shit, that'd be the last fucking thing on my mind. I'm just not about to let Deku one up me just 'cause your head's not fucking screwed on right."

"What makes you think it's not?"

"Are you fucking blind?"

"No."

"Might as well be," Bakugou muttered, rolling his eyes. "I turned around and you were already halfway out the damn door. You should know Guppy's not going down that fucking easily."

The insult died out before it could reach Todoroki's ears, suddenly replaced by the sound of his mother murmuring words he actually needed to hear. He welcomed encouragements such as "I believe in you" or "you can do it," but smaller reassurances that felt more like pinky promises took precedence. It was part of the reason he left to see Higuchi in the first place.

He wanted to make sure she wasn't seriously injured, an urge he tried to suppress since she first stood on the same ground as his father, but the selfish side of him secretly hoped to see her awake and well enough to talk about something else entirely. It never occurred to him that her stand in would be Bakugou, of all people, especially when he'd just said point blank that he didn't care whether or not Todoroki succeeded.

"Are you an only child?" Todoroki asked.

The blond frowned and stared at him like they met for the first time, clicking his tongue for good measure.

"What if I am?"

"Don't misunderstand," Todoroki said, shaking his head. "I don't consider us friends just because we're partners for this exam. I just need someone to hear me out before we start."

Bakugou's crimson eyes kept looking at him, accompanied by the same seemingly permanent frown. It wasn't an unfamiliar expression, but Todoroki had grown used to being at the other end of a sneer, and this wasn't quite that. Todoroki considered that enough reason to continue.

"My father has been trying to become the Number One Hero for years," Todoroki said, absentmindedly clenching and unclenching his fists. "He's still not quite on the same level as All Might, but I can't deny his strength and his ruthlessness on top of that."

"Yeah, I kind of got that when your old man came for Guppy's fucking throat," Bakugou sneered, letting out a humorless snort.

"I warned her."

"Why?"

"What do you mean?"

"Don't fucking tell me you were hoping that'd be enough to scare her away."

"I wasn't hoping for anything," Todoroki said, eyes narrowing sharply. "It's obvious neither of them would last in a real fight against him."

"That's not the fucking point," Bakugou snapped, bumping his shoulder as he stomped down the hallway. "You're really so fucking entitled that you can't even tell when you're projecting your own shitty problems onto someone else?"

"I'm not that desperate—"

"Did I fucking say you were? This is the only time you're ever going to hear me say it, but you're strong as fuck, and still," Bakugou shook his head and let out another disbelieving snort. "You and Deku are always preaching about such dumb shit. No fucking wonder you don't understand."

Todoroki bristled, trailing after him in long strides. "Maybe you should explain it better then."

His comment was an honest request, but Todoroki had to admit that he meant for it to sting, the irritation and indignation that had bubbled beneath his skin seeping to the surface at last. Bakugou stood at the end of the hallway with shoulders too straight and his chin up, and all Todoroki could see was the fury of crimson pinning him down.

"After you beat me at the Sports Festival," Bakugou said, frowning at the reminder. "I thought you'd finally gotten it through your head that to be number one you have to go all out, but you're still holding back like a fucking coward—and for what, dumbass?"

As if a sudden thought came to him, Bakugou stopped and whirled around, lips drawn into a scowl.

"Are you an only child?"

"No," Todoroki said, too irritated to elaborate and yet too curious not to humor him. "I have three older siblings."

"Explains why you're such a fucking baby," Bakugou mumbled under his breath. "You don't have a damn clue what it's like to be alone—"

The hall felt chilly enough for both of them to notice that the temperature had dropped. Todoroki looked at the blond with about as much ire as in the eyes staring back at him, turquoise and silver refusing to falter against the pools of deep red.

"I know more about it than you think, Bakugou."

It infuriated both of them that the other couldn't see where each one came from, but of all the words to describe Bakugou, idiot didn't belong on the list. The half and half bastard didn't know shit about what it meant to be your own worst enemy, too set on the Number Two Hero to even consider the possibility of an internal conflict affecting him more than any outsider.

Who the fuck did he think he was dragging Guppy to his damn pity party? If he considered his old man the greatest source of evil in his life, good for fucking him, but that didn't mean everyone else had to think the same way. Bakugou had seen worse in his own head, and the annoying nettling in his gut told him that the piece of work lying in the infirmary could relate to at least that much.

"Someone's always gonna be stronger or smarter or have a better Quirk," Bakugou muttered, the look in his eyes more unnerving than Todoroki cared to admit. "Heroes don't let that shit affect them. The real fucking monsters are in your head."

For a moment, both boys shared a fleeting thought, unbeknownst to each other or perhaps even themselves. Bakugou was the first to realize, and the only one with an incentive to voice it.

"Humor me for a second, icy hot," Bakugou said, eerily quiet. "Is that what you're so fucking afraid of?"

* * *

Todoroki Shouto and Bakugou Katsuki stood in the middle of an empty street made to resemble a downtown district in the heart of Tokyo. No words needed to be exchanged at that point in time. The buzzer dwindled down to irritatingly slow ticks, and though All Might remained nowhere to be seen, both of them tensed in preparation for his impending arrival.

An unspoken agreement had settled between the two after their conversation outside Recovery Girl's office, but the fact still stood that the term 'partners' held little to no credibility to them. It didn't matter what happened during the fight so long as it ended in their victory, and that meant the need to work together didn't immediately apply.

"Hey."

Todoroki glanced at Bakugou from the corner of his eye, but the blond didn't look at him, his own eyes remained fixed straight ahead on nothing in particular.

"Don't you fucking dare pull your punches."

The silence after that deemed deafening, but not more so than the sudden gust of wind barreling down the sidewalk. Todoroki brought his arms up without a second thought and the gargantuan glacier that formed as a result halted the attack. When the smoke cleared, the surrounding buildings had all but crumbled, leaving dust, debris, and shards of ice scattered throughout the streets.

A familiar silhouette approached from the shadows accompanied by a low chuckle and the sound of heavy footsteps. Bakugou didn't waste any time and launched forward, fist reared and poised for an explosion. Todoroki skated along a sheet of verglas blanketing the cement behind him.

"Young Bakugou and Young Todoroki," All Might said, taking another step closer. "Do you have what it takes to defeat The Number One Hero?"

Bakugou growled and fired his first attack as a barrage of massive ice pillars came from the rear. All Might used his forearm to block the explosion and shattered the onslaught of frost with a punch courtesy of his spare hand. Thousands of sharp crystalline needles rained down on them, but the Pro Hero blew them away with another punch that created a subsequent tornado.

 _Why does that look so familiar?_

Todoroki thought back to the special training day with Shiketsu High. In the next second, All Might appeared in front of him and landed a right hook at his stomach. He catapulted a few hundred feet away and skidded to a stop just in time for Bakugou to crash into the wall beside him with a grunt.

"I can—"

"You talkin' to me now?"

"You didn't exactly make an effort to talk to me either," Todoroki muttered, fists clenched until his knuckles turned a ghostly pale at his sides.

Bakugou glowered at him, eyes twitching. "Did you not fucking hear what I said before the exam started?"

"I did," Todoroki said, his right hand collecting frost and left covered in flames. "That's what I'm trying to tell you. I can trap him in a vortex the next time he causes one of those windstorms."

"Like with that brat from Shittetsu?"

"That's not the name of—"

"You're fucking dumb," Bakugou hissed, shoving him aside in time to avoid the fist aimed at his head. "Do you what you have to do while I distract him!"

Todoroki tried to pay no mind to the hole in the ground where All Might's punch landed, his eyes struggling to follow along with the sequence of kicks and jabs the Pro Hero and Bakugou exchanged at the expense of the latter getting utterly pummeled.

 _Come on…_

All Might drew a fist and hurled another gale towards the unsuspecting blond. Todoroki took his chance to direct a flamethrower at the incoming hurricane and sped forward on a makeshift ice rink, grabbing Bakugou by the collar of his shirt and skating towards the exit. Behind them, the wind picked up his fire, resulting in a flurry of flames encasing their opponent.

"We're not fucking running!"

The match started less than five minutes ago and Bakugou already had bruises running up and down his arms in addition to a plethora of scratches on just about any visible surface of skin. Todoroki had far less tangible injuries in comparison, but using both halves of his Quirk in such grand gestures exhausted him more than he would have liked to admit.

"We can't beat him in combat and there's no way either of us are fast enough to capture him, which means getting through the exit is our only chance of passing."

"Are you fuckin' hard of hearing or some shit—"

"We're not running," Todoroki repeated, his eyes steely with unwavering resolve. "I still don't get all of it, but I understand that much."

Bakugou narrowed his eyes. "That's some big talk for a damn coward."

"And such a foolish mistake on both your parts."

The atmosphere shifted into one reminiscent of all their past Villain encounters. Todoroki and Bakugou stilled at the sheer pressure of the killing intent emanating from the greatest Hero of their generation, craning their necks to peer at the figure towering above them. All Might smirked like he had a role to play, and they sat in front of him like gaping ducks.

His fists slammed down onto the ground, but Todoroki launched them a safe distance away with a spiral of ice. More buildings fell apart as the streets crumbled, uprooting the city from the inside out. The next few minutes after that felt like a blur. Hands picked them up from the back of their shirts and threw them down a hundred feet from the air. Todoroki landed on the hood of a car and Bakugou fell into a stone fountain.

 _No mercy…_

All Might toyed with the two of them like rag dolls. Muscles aching and skin burning from the impact of falling atop a giant hunk of metal, Todoroki recalled his fifth birthday. His opponent then treated him equally unsparingly, pounding him into the ground like he belonged there. Endeavor was a Hero respected by many, but to his own son, he was the monster underneath the bed.

In contrast, Bakugou looked up All Might more than anyone else. Todoroki wondered, perhaps a bit morbidly, if there was a difference between getting trashed by someone you admired that much and someone you resented with every ounce of your being.

"Remember when Kermit chucked that vial of my sweat at your old man?"

"What about it?"

"We're going to light this place up," Bakugou said, pushing himself to his feet. "You better not fuck this up."

Todoroki ignored the sharp pain shooting down his side and stood up after him, taking steps forward until the two broke into a sprint. His mixed feelings about his father clouded his judgement during their previous conversation and had him criticizing the minute details of a bigger picture. Bakugou might not have understood him entirely, but after getting thoroughly trashed by the Number One Hero, Todoroki could admit he was right about one thing: there will always be someone stronger, smarter, and better.

Heroes were heroes because they prevailed in spite of that, not by some miracle, but by choice. Todoroki thought that all this time Higuchi had chosen all of her battles, picking the ones that she knew she would win, but how could she have known they would defeat the League of Villains at USJ or in Kanagawa? It wasn't divination so much as it was an act of defiance, a stubborn leap of faith that was so innately a part of her that Todoroki couldn't believe he hadn't realized it earlier.

Though she made a conscious effort not to engage his father in combat, Higuchi never stayed down each time she got knocked off her feet, exhausting all of her options and then creating a new one. People made choices all the time. Her opponent was stronger, smarter, better, and yet she prevailed—and she made the choice to do that.

 _And this is mine._

Todoroki recalled his mother's promise, but his thoughts quickly shifted elsewhere, back to the quiet infirmary he visited minutes prior to the match. His eyes met crimson, different but still the same.

"Found you."

All Might slapped his palm against Bakugou's face, holding him in place. He tried to swipe at Todoroki, but towers of ice formed a barricade separating them. In the same breath, Bakugou released a fusillade of explosions in such quick succession that it looked like a single continuous blast, slipping a piece of cloth he'd torn off the hem of his shirt into the Hero's sleeve.

All Might could hold up against the eruptions with inhuman ease, but he would have to remove the blond from his grasp. As Bakugou collapsed into a lump of limbs on the ground, Todoroki reached for his hand and tugged hard. With his partner safely behind him, Todoroki engulfed the street in flames, simultaneously swathing them in a solid block of ice.

"Young—"

All Might reached into the flames, and the piece of cloth drenched in the blond's nitroglycerin sweat reacted instantaneously. The impact of the explosion sent them flying in opposite directions. Todoroki barely felt his arms as he created a helix of ice circling around the block. Bakugou had a vice grip on the back of his costume while his other hand propelled them forward with a series of colossal explosions.

"Let's get out of here, icy hot!"

The thought of All Might catching up to them lingered in the back of their minds, but the Hero would have to attack them from above in order to interrupt their momentum. Tons and tons and tons of ice sheltered them from below, Bakugou's explosions covered the rear, and Todoroki's flames continued to devour everything in their path.

"Whatever you do," Bakugou roared. "Don't even think about stopping!"

A shadow loomed over their heads as anticipated, but the exit was right in front of them, and Todoroki refused to look up. Bakugou told him not to stop. Despite the frost unfurling across his right side and the left side of his body overheating to hazardous extremes, his eyes merely slid shut, aware of the fact that they needed to crash in order to land.

In the midst of the mayhem, Todoroki spared a glance at the blond beside him and caught a glimpse of someone else entirely in his crimson eyes. He blinked twice, thrice, and suddenly saw Bakugou glaring at him again, but all of the anger and animosity in his expression dispersed into a much more subdued scowl, further smothered by the shock and satisfaction courtesy of the following announcement.

 _"Todoroki Shouto and Bakugou Katsuki: pass!"_

* * *

"I've been out for how long?"

"A day."

"How many hours is that?"

"Twenty-four."

"I've been out for a _day_?" I exclaimed, throwing off the blankets covering my body in haste.

Todoroki frowned. "That's what I said the first time."

"I didn't think you meant I was unconscious for literally twenty-four hours," I said, looking around the room. The lack of sunlight drifting through the blinds made it glaringly obvious morning had yet to arrive. "Why is it already dark outside?"

"You might have miscalculated," Todoroki said after a moment, standing from his seat beside my bed. "I thought you meant to ask how many hours are in a day, but you've actually been unconscious for about four."

"Doesn't that mean _you_ misunderstood?" I asked, brow arched.

His frown got deeper, almost defensive. "You should've worded it better."

"You really thought I didn't know how many hours were in a day?" I retorted, leaning against the bed frame to steady myself. Todoroki opened his mouth, but I held up a hand. "Don't answer that."

"Bakugou and I passed," Todoroki said, brows drawing together when I groaned. "You're upset?"

"I'm upset because I missed your match again, because I was unconscious, again."

"What a surprise."

I grabbed the pillow at end of the bed and chucked it his face, but he, of course, caught it with ease. "Did I miss anything else important?"

"Nothing you didn't already know," Todoroki said, shrugging. "Training camp starts in a couple of weeks and I-Expo is in a few days."

"Oh, yeah," I said, grabbing my backpack and school uniform off one of the other chairs. "You'll be there, won't you?"

"I was invited for winning first place at the Sports Festival, but I declined," Todoroki said, heading for the door. "My father was invited and since he won't be attending, I decided to go in his stead."

"Really?" I mused, biting back a snort. "You're declining because you're already planning on going? That's kind of petty even by your standards."

Todoroki huffed and turned on his heel, and for a second I almost expected him to stomp his foot for good fun. "I am not petty."

"You should keep the invitation," I said, purposely ignoring his very incorrect statement. "I'm sure everyone wants to get to know Todoroki Shouto just as much as they do Endeavor's son."

"Is there a difference?"

"You tell me, Endeavor's son," I said, unable to keep a small grin from peeking through when his nose wrinkled in distaste.

"I'm impressed you're even capable of having a coherent conversation right now," Todoroki deadpanned. "Bakugou and I woke up an hour earlier than you and we're the ones who got beat up by All Might."

"Aren't you the one who was freaking out about me going up against your super strong and scary dad?"

"My dad isn't All Might."

"Touché."

Todoroki lingered at the entrance. Or exit. Maybe it was a glass half-full, half-empty kind of thing. He glanced back at me again, head turned just enough that I managed to catch the corners of his lips twitch the slightest bit upward before he stepped outside. The sight of it made me pause to make sure I hadn't imagined him standing there at all.

"I was wrong," Todoroki said suddenly, slinging his bag over his shoulder. "Bakugou reminded me of something I shouldn't have overlooked from the start."

 _Bakugou?_

I made a noise in acknowledgement, but left him to his thoughts as I worked on dissecting mine. Todoroki seemed a bit different since he came into the room, at least in comparison to how irritable he started out the day, and it didn't take a genius to guess that it probably had to do with the match I missed. The fact that Bakugou came up in conversation at all must have meant that the fight turned out better than any of us expected.

I wanted to ask one or the other about it, but I had a feeling they'd rather keep it between the two of them, and if sharing a secret that only they knew about brought them together in the first place, then I didn't mind not knowing or at least waiting to find out. For the first time that day, I let out a contented breath.

 _Your worlds are getting bigger, aren't they?_

* * *

Two days after the Final Exam from Hell, Momo invited the girls in our class to the Yaoyorozu Estate. The seven of us scattered about her room trying to pack our stuff for I-Island. Momo and I already finished packing, Momo because she's Momo and me because I had an earlier flight, but the others insisted I stay with varying forms of puppy dog eyes, and I admit I can be quite vulnerable to Ochako's.

"Why do I need a swimsuit?" I asked, holding up a modest two-piece set consisting of teal high-waisted bottoms and a cropped, high-neckline top.

Hagakure giggled, tucking a vibrant yellow one piece into a compartment in her suitcase. "Isn't it cute?"

"Yaomomo bought them for us," Jirō said, letting a sigh slip out. "I told her it wasn't necessary, but you know how she gets about using her Quirk for this kind of stuff."

Momo blushed a pretty pink, waving a dismissive hand in the air. "The economy would be greatly affected if I used my Quirk to mass produce commercial items at every convenience."

"Not that I don't appreciate the sentiment, Momo, but I doubt we'll have time to go for a swim. The Expo is going to take up the majority of our schedule and I don't even know if the hotel has a pool—"

"Your schedule," Ashido interrupted, swiping the suit out of my hands and throwing it into my duffel bag. "We're going to be on an island, Rei! That's exactly the kind of place where you need one of these!"

"You like the beach, don't you?" Hagakure asked, socks swinging off the side of the bed. "Kaminari-kun told me you grew up in Kanagawa!"

"Yeah, but—"

"No buts," Ochako grinned, dropping her hands on the back of the chair I sat on.

Jirō smirked, shaking her head. "Trust me, I already tried."

"Fine," I sighed, sliding further down into my seat. "I'm guessing you're staying together?"

"Mina-chan and I are roomies," Hagakure said, looping an arm around the pinkette. "Uraraka-chan and Tsuyu-chan are sharing another room and Jirō-chan is taking Yaoyorozu-chan's extra ticket."

"Do you want to stay with us, Rei-chan?" Tsuyu asked, looking up from her perfectly organized luggage.

Ochako brightened, her cheeks stretching into a smile. "Yeah, Rei, it'd be a lot of fun!"

"My mom already booked me a room," I said, offering a smile of my own in apology. "I'm pretty sure it's the same hotel, though. Feel free to come over whenever you want, but I probably won't be around the first day."

"I can't believe you and Yaoyorozu-chan get to tour the place before everyone else even gets there," Hagakure whined, flopping down against the impeccably fluffed pillows on the equally soft mattress. "Bakugou, Todoroki, and Tokoyami all got tickets for ranking top three in the Sports Festival, too!"

"Do you think Bakugou would take me as his plus one?" Ashido asked, her voice dropping to a giddy whisper as she flashed us a toothy grin.

Ochako frowned, cheeks puffing. "Why would you want to go with him?"

"Process of elimination," Ashido shrugged, throwing in a not-so-secret wink in my direction. "Todoroki-kun is off limits and I don't really know Tokoyami that well. That just leaves an unfortunately sadistic blond who very fortunately is smokin' ho—"

"Okay!" Ochako squealed, throwing her hands up. "I mean, okay, I get it."

Tsuyu smiled, Jirō rolled her eyes, Momo sighed, and Hagakure shot straight out of bed. I spun around in my chair a couple of times, inwardly berating myself for not anticipating the subject to come up sooner than later. Ochako seemed to realize where the conversation headed as well and grimaced on both of our behalves.

"We haven't really had a chance to talk about our crushes or anything," Hagakure said.

Jirō rolled her eyes again, distracting herself by tuning the ukulele on her lap. "Maybe because not all of us are interested in someone right now."

"Come on," Hagakure prodded, sitting up on her knees. "You don't find anyone cute? Not even a little bit?"

"Do you?"

"Bakugou is hot," Ashido said, laughing at the strangled gasp from the sole brunette in the room. "Todoroki is so handsome I could die, and there's a really pretty girl in Class 1-B who's, like, actually the prettiest person I've ever seen."

"Todoroki I understand, but," Jirō paused, shrugging. "No, yeah, Bakugou is pretty cute."

"Bakugou? Cute?" Ochako repeated incredulously.

"It appears to be a rather objective consensus among much of the student population at our school," Momo said, turning to me with a curious smile. "Do you find Bakugou attractive, Rei?"

"Yes," I said, acutely aware of the waves of utter betrayal I felt from my other side. "Am I attracted to him? Hard no."

"Of course not," Ashido crooned.

Hagakure looked even more disappointed than the brunette still gaping at me. "What if we've been wrong this whole time and Rei doesn't actually like Todoroki-kun like that?"

I looked at Momo and then at Ochako, receiving a pair of sympathetic expressions in return. I didn't think I made it that obvious, and truth be told, I wouldn't be surprised if none of them actually knew, but that brought me to my next question. Did it matter if they knew? I had no plans of pursuing it right now, and I'd like to believe no one in the room planned to sell any of my secrets.

Pros included having people outside of my own head know something so significant and insignificant at the same time. It mattered because Todoroki mattered, and didn't because I prioritized him above my feelings. I didn't need to tell the rest of the world how important he meant to me, but I didn't want to deny it either. Cons meant teasing that I already experienced the majority of the semester, and that made my answer pretty obvious.

"I do," I said. "Like Todoroki, I mean."

The mix of high pitched shrieks distracted me from the pink blur pouncing on me. Ashido and I landed in a heap on the floor, her shaking me by the shoulders and me groaning from the impact.

"I knew it!" Ashido shouted, laughing loudly. "I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!"

"Do you think Todoroki-chan likes you?" Tsuyu asked, leaning forward to catch my eye.

"That's not a question I need answered at the moment," I said, shrugging off the pinkette and settling cross-legged on the pristine carpet. "I don't think either of us are ready for a romantic relationship right now. Just spending time with him is enough for me."

"No need to rush," Momo agreed, idly stirring a steaming cup of tea. "We still have quite a few years to pursue such endeavors."

"You guys are way too mature about this," Ashido said, sighing dramatically as she plopped down beside me. "Where's the drama? Gossip?"

Ochako dropped her chin on my shoulder, drumming her fingers against her knee. "Why do crushes have to be dramatic?"

"By 'crush,' do you mean Midoriya-chan?" Tsuyu asked, blinking innocently.

And just like that Ochako floated to the ceiling, arms flailing to grab hold of something to hold her down. Ashido and I reached for her hands and tugged, the brunette descended to a round of giggles.

"Why don't you text him, Ochako?" Hagakure suggested, motioning to the pink phone a few inches away from her. "I'm sure he'd be happy to hear from you over the weekend!"

Ochako's cheeks flared into a brilliant red. "No, I couldn't! I mean, what would I even say?"

"'Hi,'" I teased.

"How about this," Hagakure said, clapping her hands. "Why don't we each text the person we like," Jirō gave her a look, and based on the beat of silence, I wondered if Hagakure rolled her eyes. "Or someone we think is cute."

"What's the point of that?" Tsuyu blinked, but reached for the nightstand to grab her phone.

"It's a nice feeling, isn't it? Talking to someone you like, I mean," Hagakure said, the smile in her voice evident. "We don't have to make it a big deal. Like Rei said, even a simple _hi_ can give you butterflies, right?"

"Got a crush on any of the kids in our class?" Ashido asked, brows wiggling.

Hagakure flailed a bit, shaking her head. "You know you would be the first to know Mina-chan!"

"This is a bad idea," Ochako mumbled, cradling her head in her hands. "A really, really bad idea."

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to do, Ochako," I said, patting her head.

"Are you going to do it?"

"Yup."

"Why?" Ochako blurted.

"You already know who I'm texting," I pointed out, biting back a smile at her widening eyes. "Between you and me, I like talking to him a lot."

Her cheeks turned into cherries again, but I could tell it wasn't out of embarrassment this time. Ochako was happy for me. I decided not to dwell on the fact that my own face felt a bit warmer after my confession and tapped the messages icon on my phone without hesitation. His name appeared at the top of the list.

 **[2:44PM] Higuchi Reiko**

hi

 **Todoroki Shouto is typing…**

…

* * *

Ryōta gulped greedily, attempting to stand, but his legs quivered and he knocked the glass over. As its contents spilled and dripped the liquid onto the floor, a shadow of something loomed above him. He had to crane his neck to look up at the young woman standing less than a foot away.

"Do you remember me?" she asked.

"No."

"Good," the woman smiled, turning on her heel. "Get him stabilized and then start again. A traitor is in our midst. I want a name."

He could tell that she didn't direct the last bit to him, but something in his gut had the urge to respond.

"A traitor?"

"Nothing that concerns you," she said, glancing at him over her shoulder. "Goodnight."

Ryōta allowed himself to wonder where she had taken him. He decided to limit his thoughts of the outside world long ago, one of the few he still had conscious control over, but here, wherever or whatever here was, felt different from his usual dungeon. The breeze from the barred windows carried scents of spices and sweet things, familiar things, and he heard leaves rustle from a distance, felt the air, smelled it, almost tasted it.

 _Salt?_

Not the city, Ryōta concluded, nor the country. Bodies filled the room, momentarily distracting him from his reverie, but he saw his fair share of them. Dozens of bodies, except these seemed alive and fussing over him. A feeling of dread shot down his spine at the sight of the syringes, though not for what awaited him, for what didn't.

The needle felt cold against his skin, and then he felt utterly alive. His Quirk activated instantaneously, and all too suddenly, the man once known as the Temporal Hero sifted through time again, looking back at the past for questions, peeking into the future for answers. He saw everything the same way he would remember nothing, not faces, not names.

 _Traitor._

 _Traitor._

 _Traitor._

Feathers. He saw feathers. Red feathers. But then the scene shifted and he saw the dark shadows, and a bird boy, and a girl. The forest in flames, nowhere for them to run. His body ached and his mind felt tired, but that same gut feeling told him to push through. He needed to understand why he wanted them to get away.

Her eyes burned brighter than the sun as she urged the bird boy to flee, but to both his and Ryōta's dismay she, herself, made no motion to depart. Her boots remained planted to the ground, and she looked incandescent amidst the light of the flames.

" _I have to protect him."_

The future faded at her words, and Ryōta awoke with a another gasp. He came to the realization that the vision served as a significantly more cryptic warning than what he usually saw and wondered if that girl had anything to do with it. Those eyes reappeared in his head, his heart, his memories, and he cried and kept crying for someone he barely recognized as his daughter.

 _Run away, run away, run away._

In that fleeting moment, Ryōta returned to reality.

* * *

 **[2:44PM] Higuchi Reiko**

hi

 **[2:44PM] Todoroki Shouto**

hello

 **[2:44PM] Higuchi Reiko**

did you finish packing?

 **[2:44PM] Todoroki Shouto**

yeah

 **[2:44PM] Todoroki Shouto**

are we meeting at the airport or did you want me to pick you up on the way?

 **[2:45PM] Higuchi Reiko**

the airport is in the opposite direction from my house

 **[2:45PM] Todoroki Shouto**

what would you like me to do with that information

 **[2:45PM] Higuchi Reiko**

ouch

 **[2:46PM] Higuchi Reiko**

did you type that with your left hand

 **[2:46PM] Todoroki Shouto**

no

 **[2:46PM] Higuchi Reiko**

because i felt that burn

 **[2:46PM] Todoroki Shouto**

no

 **Higuchi Reiko is typing…**

…

 **[2:47PM] Higuchi Reiko**

you're absolutely right please don't let me say anything like that ever again

 **[2:47PM] Todoroki Shouto**

noted

 **[2:47PM] Todoroki Shouto**

i decided to take to take the invitation

 **[2:47PM] Higuchi Reiko**

is that a pity change of subject

 **[2:47PM] Todoroki Shouto**

maybe

 **[2:48PM] Higuchi Reiko**

thanks

 **Todoroki Shouto is typing…**

 **[2:48PM] Todoroki Shouto**

i wanted to ask my mom first but she thought it was a good idea

 **[2:49PM] Higuchi Reiko**

really

 **[2:49PM] Higuchi Reiko**

they do say great minds think alike

 **Todoroki Shouto is typing…**

…

 **[2:50PM] Todoroki Shouto**

she says hello

 **[2:50PM] Higuchi Reiko**

sorry

 **[2:51PM] Higuchi Reiko**

wait

 **[2:51PM] Higuchi Reiko**

i'm not sorry that she said hello

 **Higuchi Reiko is typing…**

 **[2:51PM] Higuchi Reiko**

i meant sorry to bother you if you're on a visit and i can always text back later

 **[2:52PM] Todoroki Shouto**

it's fine

 **[2:52PM] Todoroki Shouto**

i'm about to leave anyway

 **[2:52PM] Higuchi Reiko**

ok good i feel like dying a little less

 **[2:52PM] Higuchi Reiko**

please send her my regards

 **[2:53PM] Todoroki Shouto**

sure

 **[2:53PM] Higuchi Reiko**

hey

 **[2:53PM] Todoroki Shouto**

yes

 **[2:54PM] Higuchi Reiko**

do you look more like your mom or your dad

 **[2:54PM] Todoroki Shouto**

is that a pity change of subject

 **[2:54PM] Higuchi Reiko**

you're funny today aren't you

 **[2:54PM] Todoroki Shouto**

why do you ask?

 **Higuchi Reiko is typing…**

 **[2:55PM] Higuchi Reiko**

i can see some similarities but now that i think about it you don't really look like your dad all that much

 **[2:55PM] Higuchi Reiko**

i guess i'm just curious

 **[2:56PM] Todoroki Shouto**

you tell me

 **Todoroki Shouto is typing…**

…

 **[2:56PM] Todoroki Shouto**

[image loading]

[ _a woman with snowy hair sits across from the camera, holding a cup of tea in one hand while the other props against her cheek; silver eyes seem to reflect an obvious sort of amusement further emphasized by the serene smile on her lips_ ]

 **Higuchi Reiko is typing…**

 **[2:56PM] Higuchi Reiko**

she's beautiful

 **[2:56PM] Todoroki Shouto**

i think so too

 **Todoroki Shouto is typing…**

 **[2:57PM] Todoroki Shouto**

she says thank you

 **[2:58 mPM] Todoroki Shouto**

i'm going to visit her again when we get back from the expo

 **Todoroki Shouto is typing…**

…

 **[2:59PM] Todoroki Shouto**

would you like to come with me?

 **Higuchi Reiko is typing…**

…

…

* * *

 **[2:49PM] Kaminari Denki**

rei

 **[2:49PM] Kaminari Denki**

rei

 **[2:49PM] Kaminari Denki**

REI

 **Kaminari Denki is typing…**

…

 **[2:53PM] Kaminari Denki**

OK NVM WHO WANTS TO MAKE SOME MONEY

 **[2:54PM] Kirishima Ejirō**

what did you do

 **[2:54PM] Kaminari Denki**

not important

 **[2:54PM] Kaminari Denki**

well

 **Kaminari Denki is typing…**

 **[2:55PM] Kaminari Denki**

i may or may not have spilled water on another one of bakugou's weeb books

 **[2:55PM] Sero Hanta**

who's going to tell him

 **Higuchi Reiko is typing…**

…

 **[2:56PM] Higuchi Reiko**

no

 **[2:56PM] Higuchi Reiko**

everyone shut up

 **[2:56PM] Higuchi Reiko**

don't interrupt kaminari at all

 **Kaminari Denki is typing…**

 **[2:57PM] Kaminari Denki**

wow rei

 **[2:57PM] Kaminari Denki**

THAT'S SO NICE THANK U

 **[2:58PM] Kaminari Denki**

anyway i need someone to take one for the team aka me, ya boy

 **[2:54PM] Kirishima Ejirō**

u do know he's going to kill u just for calling it a weeb book

 **[2:58PM] Kaminari Denki**

i'll pay u 500 yen

 **Sero Hanta is typing…**

 **[2:58PM] Sero Hanta**

make it 1000

 **[2:59PM] Kaminari Denki**

deal

 **Kirishima Ejirō is typing…**

 **[2:59PM] Kirishima Ejirō**

can we tell him now

 **[2:59PM] Sero Hanta**

i can't believe he hasn't noticed yet

 **[2:59PM] Sero Hanta**

where did rei go she's missing everything

 **[2:59PM] Kaminari Denki**

? notice what

 **Bakugou Katsuki is typing…**

 **[3:00PM] Kaminari Denki**

what

 **3:00PM] Kaminari Denki**

WHAT

 **[3:00PM] Kaminari Denki**

WHY IS HE HERE

 **Higuchi Reiko is typing…**

 **[3:01PM] Higuchi Reiko**

the current name of this group chat is literally "bakugou and his super awesome best friends"

 **[3:01PM] Kaminari Denki**

WHO DID IT THAT

 **[3:01PM] Higuchi Reiko**

u

 **[3:01PM] Kirishima Eijirō**

u

 **[3:01PM] Sero Hanta**

u

 **[3:01PM] Bakugou Katsuki**

you're fucking dead

 **Kaminari Denki has left the conversation.**

* * *

 **Higuchi Reiko is typing…**

…

 **[3:01PM] Higuchi Reiko**

yes

* * *

 **postscript**

ok u know what i'm not gonna ramble this time bc i said all i had to say on my blog and then some agaksksls pls feel free to drop by jngsjngs dot tumblr dot com if u wanna join the party! i feel like replying to people there is also a lot easier on mobile in comparison to here or ao3 which is v helpful since i broke my laptop (i mentioned this on tumblr but it's been a rough couple of months lulz) i hope that doesn't deter u from dropping a review on here along the way tho agskshsks unfortunately i've been made all too aware that ppl tend to sort thru fics "high to low" in terms of reviews oof

just wanted to say i'm v grateful for ur patience and all the support i've received despite the hiatus! at this point i don't know how much more i can convey my appreciation for u bc i say it every single time and yet somehow it grows more and more each day; i talked a little bit about why i felt so unmotivated to continue writing not only this story but in general and i got so many supportive messages that i actually teared up at one point (i'm a weenie i know)

anyway this is v late but i hope u all get to experience a wonderful year ahead; january was exhausting in so many ways and i'm sure i'll have more bad days here and there but here's to all the days after that

thank u for reading

~(ᵒ̴̶̷᷄ωᵒ̴̶̷᷅*•) )੭⁾⁾


	25. Disintegration Anxiety

No copyright infringement intended.

* * *

—

 **XV. Disintegrated Anxiety**

—

* * *

The first time she met him, dragons commanded the skies, and darkness crept in every sanctum of their sacred sanctuary. He was a free spirit strapped down only to the spine of his own mythical beast, and she was but a simple orphan with hopes of heroes. Despite their humble beginnings, it was a story meant for the books, and unbeknownst to many it had been carved into monuments depicting the most tragic events of such a magnificent era.

Eir was six years old the first time she picked up a lance, seven when she started on the sword. Before her juvenescent self entered the stage of adolescence, she received accolades for mastering both. Her achievements made her proud not only because she worked hard to earn them, but because she learned everything she knew firsthand from the husband and wife that took her in after the woman who birthed her cast a bundled baby into the streets.

They taught her, raised her, and cared for her regardless of the fact that they were unrelated by blood. Had she been asked if there was anything in the world she was more proud of than quite frequently besting even the most zealous of men in spars, it was being their daughter most of all.

And then the war happened.

Bandits, thieves, and merchants stumbling upon the wrong place at the wrong time took the brunt of the fall, and for a while it was simple. Not easy. Never easy, but predictable, at least. Her adoptive father was in charge of leading squadrons to victory after victory and revered as the strongest of the strong. Kind. Merciful. Never fought to kill. In the rare instances wherein that wasn't an option, he'd make sure the burden was never passed onto her shoulders once she joined the fighting, even if he had to force it onto his own.

Mercenaries cane next. Assassins. Mages. More victories, more blood, more enemies. More like war. Her father was an important asset, which made the target on his back so much larger than the others, but Eir didn't care about any of that. He was her father above all else. And so when she looked up one day to find an arrow pointed at his head, ready to hit the bullseye, she threw her spear without hesitation.

For the first time, she missed.

As predicted by just about anyone who experienced the frontlines firsthand, the severity of her actions didn't sink in until she woke up one night screaming and clawing at anyone who tried to wake her. Eir cried and cried until the skies turned orange, and the pages of her story overturned to paint pictures of another daybreak. Her adoptive mother died shortly after her husband was laid to rest.

Eir would not forget the symbol raised behind the soldier who killed her father. The King was a monster not unlike the beasts under his command, and myths of murder and malady haunted the monarch as did death and decay, blood and bodies. Those able to fight need not be asked to join the ranks aiming to rid the world of such a lecherous man as warriors from across the nation vowed to snatch the crown off his head the same way he had stolen everything from them.

His dragons were fearsome creatures in their own right and thought to be the last of their kind until the Princess was born some years ago. A mark on her skin shaped like a pair of black wings appeared at the nape of her neck, and along with it, the ability to breathe embers like the winged beasts in the skies. Heat licked at her skin like a hound dressing its wounds, offering comfort instead of pain, and the flame of the candlelight flickered at her behest.

To the King's lament, the Princess went missing shortly after she was born. Her disappearance caused as much of a shift in the ever raging war as her birth did just a few months prior. Imperial forces came in torrents, not waves, and kills became quicker and crueler. Eir did not know whether she wished for or feared the day the Princess returned to claim the throne.

 _Flames are the enemy_ , she often reminded herself. _Douse them while you can._

The night her adoptive father raided the Royal Palace, she saw him. Not the King, no, but a boy barely older than Eir herself, perhaps the closest thing His Majesty had to a successor after his daughter vanished. That boy would grow into a man, and that man would become an archer, and that archer became known as the soldier who murdered her father.

Eir was almost twenty-five now, and over a decade of fighting had hardened her heart. Nothing mattered aside from the indubitable fact that if she had the means to kill him, she would. They fought at the peak of a massif towards the North, a land free of the monarch who would inevitably turn its lustrous forests into soot and snow.

With as much fury as she could muster, Eir stabbed her spear into his chest, forcing the man onto his knees. In the light of the sun, she stood triumphantly before him and the rest of the fallen soldiers, scattered and scarcely alive, but for the first time in a long while, content with the sunrise.

* * *

I-Island was an artificial archipelago developed and funded by the combined efforts of pretty much every company in the world involved in Heroics. Thousands of scientists inhabited its central cities primarily working on Quirk related research and creating all kinds of equipment to help Heroes on and off the field.

Kan-oji said that my father once considered becoming a researcher himself and only dismissed the notion after receiving his acceptance to Yūei. Despite noble attempts to minimize the teen angst, I sometimes wondered if he would still be here had he taken that path instead, but I suppose such different circumstances would have drastically changed where I ended up today.

Selfish as it might sound, I didn't think that was a trade I wanted to make at this point, though admittedly my last encounter with the League of Villains invited lingering doubts. It seemed like Shigaraki Tomura knew more about my father than I did, and if that didn't raise the red flags in my head, I had enough reason to believe that his little brotherhood of evil had something or everything to do with why my father went missing in the first place.

Bakugou didn't forget about those particular details either. I've earned more than a few glares in recent weeks for ignoring his incessant inquiries about my decision to pursue the lead, but my mother inching her way back into the metaphorical picture put those thoughts on the back burner. The more or less rational side of me feared that if I got too close, I would find her name next on the hit list.

On the less dramatic side of the spectrum, I genuinely looked forward to attending I-Expo. It was an annual exposition that allowed the public a glimpse into a plethora of new inventions, and highly esteemed individuals often received invitations for early access to the event. Pro Heroes, of course, topped that list, followed by immediate family members such as Todoroki and myself.

The two of us attended on behalf of our parents, unbeknownst to many on my part, but Todoroki received his own personal invitation as the winner of the Sports Festival's first year stage. Given that her father was a shareholder of the event, Momo also received a couple of extra tickets in addition to her own. Jiro and Ochako won said tickets in a heated game of rock-paper-scissors among the other girls, much to Ashido's indignation.

Deku told me, off the record, that All Might asked him to come along. Bakugou received his invitation for ranking first at the Yūei entrance exam and placing second at the Sports Festival, the same as Tokoyami for placing third. Tokoyami extended his plus one invitation to Shōji. Bakugou slapped his onto Kirishima's forehead. No surprises there.

Todoroki offered Kaminari the extra ticket that came with his Sports Festival invite, but the blond found a way to get his own by applying for a part time job at the Expo. Mildly surprising if only because I thought Todoroki didn't even remember his name half the time. Borderline shocking due to the thought of Kaminari working, and willingly at that.

Under the same "friend of a friend" category, Shinsō had extra training with Aizawa-sensei that coincided with the Expo, and Sero couldn't make it because of a fixed family affair. I had no idea what Todoroki ended up doing with his spare until he picked me up from my house on the morning of our flight.

"Hey!"

In the driver's seat of the car sat a different Todoroki, taller and older and sans a speck of scarlet on his head. His smile stretched from ear to ear in a way that reminded me of another encounter at the supermarket, and that, along with his white hair and gray eyes, said more than enough about his relationship to the person standing beside me.

"Hello," I said. "I don't suppose your surname is Todoroki, too?"

He laughed and nodded, throwing a V-sign into the air. "Todoroki Natsuo at your service!"

"I gave him my extra ticket," Todoroki said, taking my bags. "He's flying with us to the island."

I smiled at him in thanks and slid into the backseat. Todoroki sat down shotgun shortly after loading our stuff into the trunk, but I still felt a bit of awkwardness seep into the few seconds of silence during his absence. First meetings often involved small talk, after all, and based on the assumption that Natsuo looked every bit Todoroki's opposite, I anticipated a lot of it.

"Sorry for the inconvenience," Natsuo said, glancing at me from the rearview mirror. "Our old man paid for my flight so unfortunately whatever he says goes."

Natsuo looked a couple of years older than us, but it was the youngest of the four attending such an extravagant event on their father's behalf. I couldn't tell if that was meant as a prize or a punishment. The unconcealed bite in his words suddenly sounded harsh in my ears, and though I kept a straight face, I found myself thinking about Endeavor's seemingly strained relationships with more of his kids.

"It's not an inconvenience at all, Natsuo-san," I assured him, curiously meeting his gaze. "But, speaking of inconveniences, why didn't Yūei cover your transportation costs?"

"He upgraded us to first class," Natsuo said. "I know, I know, I sound like a brat, but," he paused. "Reiko, right? Just call me Natsuo! I always get all itchy when I hear my name with honorifics."

"Natsuo, then."

"I just don't like the thought of owing him anything," Natsuo concluded, begrudgingly shaking his head. "Don't worry, I'm not here to keep you on leash. I'm not even staying at the same hotel!"

"He's staying with his girlfriend," Todoroki said, looking out the window with his cheek lazily propped on a fist.

I caught the surprise on Natsuo's expression before he replaced it with a sheepish grin. "You don't mind, do you?"

"You're asking me that now?"

"C'mon, just humor me!"

"Your girlfriend, not mine," Todoroki shrugged.

"Best believe it," Natsuo said, chuckling good-naturedly and sounding more than a little proud as he directed his next words at me. "Luci attends I-Island University."

"That's impressive," I said, half honest and half out of politeness. My following thought allowed a sliver of sympathy to slip past my otherwise sleep-induced detachment. "Long distance?"

"Sadly."

"Annoying?"

"Understatement of the century," Natsuo said, letting out a loud exhale. "I'm studying medical welfare at the University of Tokyo. I haven't seen her in a couple of months, but I guess it helps that I keep busy most days."

I felt my lips slant into a scant smirk. "As expected of someone attending the University of Tokyo."

"You say that like you're not attending one of the most esteemed Hero institutions in the world."

"Hero institution," Todoroki and I emphasized at the same time.

"Traditional schools aren't less important just because they fall into a different niche," I added. "Even including those catered to Heroics, the University of Tokyo is among the top ten in the country."

"You're smart," Natsuo said, sounding amused. "And stubborn, I can tell."

"You can tell?"

"Well, I suppose Shouto might have mentioned it…"

Feeling infuriatingly bashful, I swiftly ducked my head. I might have entertained the thought of Todoroki speaking about me to his siblings once or twice, but the sudden confirmation made my cheeks warm. In hindsight, Natsuo probably watched the Sports Festival and made such observations through my match against Deku, but a nagging in my gut reminded me that Fuyumi recognized my name when we met even before that.

"I knew it," I said, feigning a frown. "Trashing me behind my back and tarnishing my reputation. I'm disappointed."

Todoroki made a noise, something in between a snort and a petulant huff. "Maybe you're just predictable."

"Maybe you just know me too well."

"That's kind of sweet," Natsuo said, looking at me through the rearview mirror again. "I mean, it could've been sweeter if you didn't roll your eyes."

"I tell her that all the time," Todoroki nodded.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes again purely out of spite. "Not all the time."

"It will be if you keep doing it."

"I only do it because it's an appropriate reaction to the majority of my conversations with people."

"Seems like that says more about you than it does them."

"You just want to believe that because I talk to you the most."

"Are you two always like this?" Natsuo asked, fixing his eyes on the road ahead. "I don't think I've ever seen Shouto, uh, wow. It happens so rarely that I can't even think of a word."

The Todoroki in question tilted his head in a familiar gesture. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about _you_ talking, like, a lot."

"Am I?"

"Not really," I said, moreso in response to Todoroki than Natsuo. "But I don't know what classifies as 'a lot.' Words per minute? Because I've heard worse in less time."

"By worse, you mean the truth," Todoroki retorted. "I state facts and you roll your eyes in denial."

"You state strong and very stubborn opinions and I roll my eyes in exasperation."

Todoroki quirked a brow. "There's a difference?"

"Touché," I conceded.

Natsuo interrupted our banter with a laugh, booming and unapologetic, and then mumbling something about _kids these days_ under his breath. Todoroki glanced in his direction, but otherwise paid him no mind. I almost dismissed it all the same when just as suddenly as he asked his previous question, Natsuo spoke up.

"Thanks for looking out for him."

The way Natsuo stared at Todoroki like he met him for the first time today seemed less suspicious, more sad. I recognized the look in his eyes because it was the way I looked at my mom sometimes, even now, like, I know this person in front of me, but I don't know much about them as an individual.

I wondered what could have made two siblings so close in age drift further and further apart when the image of their father appeared in my mind. As much as I hated to entertain the thought, I had to admit it didn't sound entirely unbelievable that they never had a chance to get to know each other at all.

"You're sentimental today," Todoroki said.

At the next red light, Natsuo stole another peek at him. He smiled a little crookedly, and his expression encompassed an elixir of emotions I understood fairly well. It was a realization and the subsequent acceptance that something within reach, something you wanted more than anything, remained entirely untouchable.

The words I needed to convey that feeling didn't come to mind, or perhaps I simply couldn't parse them, and I was reminded, albeit far less brutally, that sometimes words aren't enough. When I caught his eye again, I just gave Natsuo the exact same grin, if not a bit awkward through the rearview mirror. His eyes widened, surprised and then grateful. In that moment, I couldn't help but think he looked so much like his brother.

 _Thanks for looking out for him… when I couldn't._

I didn't want to say anything along the lines of _you're welcome_. It wasn't a chore, nor a favor. I wasn't selfless in that respect because I didn't do it for Natsuo, not even for Todoroki. I made a choice, one of the few in my life I decided on my own, and I didn't need the validation to justify it. If anything, I should have thanked them for allowing me to stand beside him as I did.

"That's what I'm here for," I said.

Natsuo beamed.

* * *

"Have you completed the necessary preparations?" Eir asked, clutching a clipboard.

Toga Himiko, one of the younger recruits, asked her a few days ago why she didn't just buy a digital tablet with the money the League had accumulated through their various escapades. When Eir said that despite her ever growing interest in technology, she had always preferred writing things down analog, the blond girl arrived at their next meeting with a stack of paper on hand. If not for the pages stained a suspicious red, Eir might have considered it a sweet sentiment.

"Mister Shield took the bait hook, line, and sinker," Kuin said, teeth glinting a smirk tugged at her mouth. "Hired a bunch of fake Villains to steal back a device he lost a few years ago after some old, rich men reeking of privilege made him relinquish the rights to his research."

"David Shields is a renowned scientist with hundreds, if not thousands of projects under his belt. Do we know why he wants to reclaim this specific device?"

"No."

"I am expecting a 'but.'"

"No," Kuin repeated, drawing out the word. "But, thanks to little ol' me, we are aware of his extremely close relationship with a certain Symbol of Peace."

Eir arched a brow, jotting down a couple of notes. "I was hoping to hear something I did not already know."

"Geez, tough crowd."

"Hachisuka."

"All Might arrived on I-Island about an hour ago and is expected to attend I-Expo. Shields made the call hiring those fake Villains minutes after the former was spotted leaving his lab. Coincidence?"

"You have spies on the ground?" Eir asked.

Kuin snorted. "Got that from Twitter, actually."

"Please extend my sincerest thanks to them," Eir said, nodding in approval as she continued to scribble on the page in front of her. "I assume we replaced the actors Shields hired with our people."

"Sort of," Kuin coughed, stifling her snickers. "Trumpet is leading the operation along with Curious and Geten, but Dabi and Mustard will be on the team, too."

"I said 'our people,' Hachisuka."

"In technical terms, the current alliance means all of them are 'our people,' but because I know you're capable of snapping me like a twig, I'll appease you. Nemo's tagging along to get the answers to your big, bad _why_."

"Curious and Geten are not nearly strong enough to defend them against All Might should the need for confrontation arise. Muscular is unavailable for the mission…"

"Muscular? In an enclosed space flying at high altitudes with nothing but the vast seas to cushion his fall?"

"I am aware, Hachisuka," Eir said, sighing and deliberately shaking her head. "That is why I said he is unavailable. I need Hawks to pack a bag."

Kuin crossed her arms, quipping, "You think compromising his position is any better than the Muscular thing?"

"I did not say he will be joining the team. As much as I appreciate the work this Twitter person has done for us, I require closer monitoring on the target. Hawks will be attending the Expo as a Pro Hero, not our double agent."

"He doesn't even know about the merger yet."

"It is need-to-know information."

"You don't trust him."

"This operation, if successful, may very well change my mind about that."

"I might regret asking," Kuin said, frown deepening into a semblance of a sneer. "But who are you, really? Three major organizations feeding out of the palm of your hand and not a single scratch on that pretty little head."

"Who I am does not warrant as much cause for concern as who I am to _you_ ," Eir said, lips twitching into a small smile. "I find your strength a valuable asset, but it is as you said. Our influx of new comrades means I have quite a few additional variables to take into consideration."

"Is that a threat?"

"Not yet."

"Figures," Kuin muttered, façade slipping even further as she rolled her eyes. "I'll let Hawks know about the situation. The sooner we get this over with, the more I get to mess with those brats myself."

* * *

The airport seemed unusually busy for a Monday morning, but I wasn't awake enough to notice. I fell asleep in the car not long after our conversation slowed down, and though both Todoroki brothers came prepared with a bottle of highly caffeinated green tea Fuyumi graciously brewed for our trip, I still felt a little too much like the undead to care about much else.

"Boarding pass," Todoroki said, holding out an expectant hand.

I frowned, blindly shuffling around my bag. "Didn't I give it to you earlier?"

"No, that was your passport," Todoroki sighed, fingers prying mine apart to take the slip of paper I had apparently been holding the whole time. "This is your boarding pass."

A yawn replaced the quip at the tip of my tongue, but I didn't care much about making an impression. I-Island was only a few hours away from Tokyo by plane, which meant the trip should be relatively smooth regardless of my current state. It was admittedly a nice change of pace not having to worry about the minutiae for once.

Not to risk the whole famous last words cliché, but I doubted even we could attract that much trouble at I-Island. Because of the secrecy surrounding specific projects and the scientists' research, it had a security system on par with that of Tartarus, an impenetrable and inescapable penitentiary reserved for Villains in the upper echelons of the underground.

"Wait," I said. "I'm not boarding yet."

Todoroki, unsurprisingly unaffected, didn't even glance at our boarding passes. "We're sitting next to each other."

"You're in first class."

"Yeah."

"With Natsuo."

"Yeah."

"I'm not—"

"Don't worry about it," Todoroki muttered, busying himself by adjusting the backpack on his shoulder. "My old man covered the cost."

The stewardess at the front of the line offered us a smile as we stepped forward. Todoroki handed her our passports and boarding passes, and in the next few seconds, we made our way into the plane. My sleepiness had long since disappeared by the time we sifted through the aisles, replaced by stirring suspicion.

"You're saying Endeavor went out of his way to upgrade and pay for my perfectly fine ticket for a flight that's within the single digit hour range."

"He definitely paid for it."

"What, like, you stole his credit card and decided to spend all his money out of spite?" I trailed off at his silence and felt my jaw slack when Todoroki gave me a deadpan stare. "No way—"

"My father isn't going to notice a few missing yen," Todoroki said, then abruptly stopped in front of a pair of fancy seats spaced a few inches apart. "Do you want the window or aisle?"

"You pick."

"I asked first."

"Window," I relented, taking a second to throw my duffel into the overhead compartment. "I'm mad that I'm excited about this mini fridge."

Todoroki tucked his bag away and then sat down in the seat beside me. "You're welcome."

"Never said I was ungrateful," I said, nudging his side. "Knowing you, I'm sure it wasn't just wasted money."

"I donated to a few animal shelters, if that's what you mean," Todoroki said, brows furrowed. "And the hospital taking care of my mother at the moment."

Much to my chagrin, I felt my heart stumble with admiration and a bit of adoration in between. I was thinking more along the lines of him getting a small gift for his mom, maybe his siblings, but I should've remembered that Todoroki epitomized a certain kindness few others had the chance to experience.

"That's nice of you," I said, hoping I managed the rest of my expression well enough that he didn't notice my heart eyes, as Ashido surely would have put it. "Now I'll feel less guilty about ordering everything on this menu."

"Did you skip breakfast again?" Todoroki asked, frowning. "I told you not to drink that much tea on an empty stomach."

"I might have remembered to eat if you didn't come over so early."

"You didn't read the first message I sent you this morning. I said, 'Don't forget to eat.'"

"I can barely see anything now, much less when I woke up."

"That's a new way of saying you're just a picky eater."

"I don't know why I have to take this from you, Mr. I'm Not Going to Eat Unless You Feed Me Cold Soba."

As Todoroki opened his mouth to reply, I heard a familiar laugh. I looked up, a bit startled, and found myself staring into a pair of crescent shaped eyes.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

Kirishima stood behind us with a toothy grin and the most obnoxious red, floral shirt that of course only he could pull off. Bakugou sat beside him with shut eyes and his arms crossed.

"Mr. I'm Not Going to Eat Unless You Feed Me Cold Soba upgraded our tickets," Kirishima said, raising a palm to his fellow redhead. Todoroki blinked and looked down at his own hand in confusion. "Tokoyami and Shōji, too, but I don't think they've boarded yet."

"Bakugou agreed to that?" I asked, taking Todoroki's wrist and lifting it to give Kirishima his high five. "That's some character development."

"Not like icy hot paid for any of this shit," Bakugou grumbled, cracking an eye open to glower at the boy next to me. "He's just ripping off his old man."

Todoroki raised a brow at him. "You didn't seem bothered when I told you about it."

"I don't give a single fuck."

"Predictably."

I looked at Todoroki and then at the blond. Bakugou would've rather dropped dead than accept something he considered a patronizing offer. No matter the intention, I'd say someone he barely acknowledged as a classmate spending an outrageous amount of money on unnecessary luxuries landed under that category, which meant I could assume, at least to an extent, that he thought of Todoroki as more than just another classmate.

Bakugou rolled his eyes and settled into a more comfortable position, not an ounce of hostility in his glare. Todoroki merely shrugged. It was slight, almost imperceptible, but I could tell that something in their dynamic shifted after their exam. Even a month ago, I could have never imagined the two of them interacting on their own accord, much less as amicably as this.

"Hey, Todoroki," Kirishima said suddenly, nodding his head at something behind my shoulder. "I think that dude over there is calling for you."

I turned my head to see Natsuo grinning, arms raised high above his head in a beckoning wave. My gut insisted that I should have and likely would have sat in his seat had he and his little brother not conspired to make sure I didn't have to spend the flight separated from the rest of our friends.

"He probably wants to make sure you're settling in alright," I said, nodding in encouragement. "You have plenty of time before we take off."

Todoroki looked thoughtful for a moment, but nodded back at me and promptly stood from his seat. As he weaved through the aisles to reach Natsuo, seated just a few rows ahead of us, the remaining redhead watched them with scrutinizing eyes.

"Does that guy kind of look like Todoroki to you?" Kirishima asked.

"Maybe because he is a Todoroki."

"No way," Kirishima whispered, defeating the purpose as his voice escalated in excitement. "I didn't really expect him to have any siblings."

I glanced at the brothers from the corner of my eye. Natsuo placed a hand atop of Todoroki's head and ruffled his hair. It probably tied with Todoroki and Bakugou's current friends-but-not-really relationship in terms of weirdness, but the latter seemed far less awkward in comparison, and that said a lot.

"I didn't either," I agreed. "Now that I think about it, though, Todoroki does act a lot like the youngest child, if that makes sense."

"In other words, he's a brat," Bakugou said, looking bored as he stared out the window.

"I didn't say that."

"Not out loud."

"I'm not inclined to comment on that. Do you have any siblings, Kirishima?"

"Nah, I'm an only child," Kirishima said, knotted brows appearing oddly pensive. "I never really thought about what it'd be like to have a brother or sister or anything, but I guess it would be cool."

I considered what he said, taking a moment to smile at him. "I feel like you'd be a good older brother."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"How's that?"

"You're one of the most reliable people I know."

Kirishima looked bashful, but the grin he gave me in return seemed a little too mischievous for my liking, and the realization that the conversation could only go so far before heading in a direction I would have rather not have revisited hit me like a right hook in the face.

"Since you're the youngest person in our class," Kirishima said, purposely dragging out his words. "I guess I kind of already am, huh?"

"Not funny," I said flatly.

Bakugou raised a brow, and to my horror, asked, "You're the youngest in the class?"

"And you're the oldest," Kirishima supplied, quite unhelpfully, if I might add. "Isn't that ironic?"

"What's ironic is that Shōji is the second youngest."

I stared up at my savior to find Tokoyami and Shōji himself looking rather bemused by the topic at hand. I liked to think it had to do with him relinquishing the class baby title at last, but truth be told, he might have just handled the situation more maturely than me.

"Emphasis on the second youngest," Shōji said, his mouth, or one of them, shifting into a smirk. "Because Higuchi is the youngest. Or so I've heard."

"This conversation is equal parts unwanted and unwarranted," I muttered, frowning at the taller of the two. "You, of all people, should be on my side, Shōji."

Kirishima cooed, messing up my hair. "Look at our cute, sulking little sister!"

"I'm about to puke," Bakugou deadpanned.

"I'll call for a flight attendant," Todoroki said, slipping into his seat again. "Should I be concerned?"

"Learn some fucking sarcasm, damn basta—"

"No cursing in front of children!"

"Don't think I'm afraid to come after you, Kirishima."

"Perhaps," Tokoyami started, his gaze darting from me to the blond. "You two should think about spending a bit less time together."

* * *

"That girl is hiding something, I can tell, and if she's hiding something, that means someone in the higher ups has a hell of a lot more information that they don't want me to know."

" _Do you believe your position to be compromised?"_

"No. No, I'm sure of that much. I'm just not in as deep as I thought. I've been told the Boss put together a team to steal a device from I-Island, but I don't know who's on it, and All Might's presence complicates pretty much every aspect of this mission."

" _Erasedhead and Edgeshot will be on standby, but I'm afraid there's not much else we can do without arousing suspicion."_

"I agree it's not ideal, but it's our only option right now. The operation is set up so All Might has no reason to keep his guard up. If he or anyone else for that matter seems even the slightest bit suspicious, I have no doubt they'll know I had something to do with it."

" _Your mission is too important. He must be extracted before… ah… I suppose as soon as possible is all we can hope for… I'm inclined to trust your judgement if you believe we have no choice but to keep this from All Might."_

"That is our choice."

" _You protest?"_

"Of course not. It just sucks. I'm tired. But I said I wouldn't complain, so forget I said that."

" _You—"_

"I know."

" _... thank you."_

"Don't thank me just yet. Boss wants me around for reconnaissance. If I can't warn All Might about the attack, the least I can do is watch out for those he won't be able to protect because of that decision."

" _A few of the students are on the Island for the Expo, but I ask that you focus strictly on the task at hand. Reiko and her friends are capable of taking care of themselves should it come to that."_

"I get it. I've got a kid here, too, you know. I'm not all that worried about him, but…"

" _Do what you must, Hawks."_

"With all due respect, ma'am, both of us would be dead if I didn't. It can't be a coincidence that this is all occurring on the same night. Breaking into an institution with security on par with Tartarus while the Number One Hero is in such close proximity means whoever planned this is either psychotic or absolutely brilliant."

" _Which one is it?"_

"Off record?"

" _Mm."_

"A little bit of both."

" _That hardly seems like a response worth keeping off the books."_

"I don't know how else to explain it. The way things are going around here, you'd think whoever is behind all of this planned for everything to happen. Victories, losses, the stuff in between. There's no sense of panic or hopelessness, and sure, maybe that's just a front, but…"

" _Yes?"_

"It means said Boss just doesn't care. The person up there is prepared to do whatever it takes to achieve their goal, regardless of who stands in their way. I have to wonder if I—if _we_ —can do the same."

* * *

Between me and Bakugou, I couldn't say who deserves more of the blame. I was notoriously terrible at maintaining any sort of punctuality, but the blond disappeared after dumping his single duffel bag into the room he and Kirishima shared. It took almost two hours to find him (Tokoyami and Shōji respectfully went their separate ways halfway through the search), and when we did, he was, of course, blowing things up.

The four of us ran into a handful of our friends and an unfamiliar face at the training facility Bakugou stumbled upon. Deku introduced us to Melissa Shields, a scientist and student at I-Island Academy. It took one look at her and a fleeting glance at Ochako to guess why the brunette seemed a bit flighty even for her standards. As much as I empathized with them both, I had no reason to get involved.

"I can't believe Deku had the fucking nerve to show up here," Bakugou grumbled, kicking a discarded soda can along the sidewalk.

Kirishima opened his mouth to respond, but it stayed open as one of the islands many security bots hurriedly picked it up and tossed it into a recycling bin.

"Did you see that?"

"Did you fucking listen to anything I just said?"

"What—I mean, totally!"

"Deku must have gotten a ticket from a friend," I said, deliberately emphasizing the last word. Bakugou's eyes narrowed just enough for me to know he understood what I meant. "Not the point, though. The three of you got to blow off steam on that Villain course. I expect you on your best behavior from this point forward."

Kirishima blinked, Bakugou frowned, and Todoroki raised a brow, quietly standing beside me. I replayed the words I just said to them in the privacy of my mind and nearly gasped out loud in mortification.

"I just sounded like a _mom_ —"

Todoroki abruptly halted in front of the building towering above us, pristine and prodigious and perhaps on par with our own school in terms of prestige. Feeling a little less awed than the average tourist, I buried the embarrassment, but even then, I couldn't keep my jaw from slacking at the thought of all the research occurring inside those walls.

"We can wait here," Todoroki said. "Just got a message from Natsuo-nii. He and Luciana are almost downstairs."

"Luciana?" Kirishima echoed.

"Present!"

The four of us turned around to find Natsuo standing by the entrance. His grin stretched from ear to ear, but it paled in comparison to the glowing girl beside him.

"Hi," she said. "I'm Luciana, but please, call me Luci!"

Her smile was the first thing I noticed, and then I found myself eyeing the lab coat draped around her shoulders. It accentuated her short hair colored an unnatural black that implied the use of store-bought box dye, but the end result looked sleek and suited her well.

"Sorry for the wait," Luci added, sheepishly scratching at her cheek. "Putting Natsu's stuff away took a lot longer than expected."

"Because you fell asleep," Natsuo pointed out.

"I did no such thing!"

"There's surveillance footage of you snoring!"

"First all, remind me to delete that. I didn't get much sleep, and—don't look at me like that! It's not my fault for once!"

Natsuo frowned in sympathy. "Another deadline?"

"No," Luci said, sighing although she was unable to hide the upturn of the corners of her mouth. "Too excited to see you."

I almost laughed aloud at the sudden shift in my friends' expressions. Todoroki silently raised both brows, Kirishima blushed bright red, and Bakugou looked just about ready to knock himself out by the way his eyes rolled to the back of his head. The only reason I didn't was because I couldn't stave off the heat tinging my own cheeks a shade of pink, unused to witnessing such blatant displays of romantic affection myself.

"That's nice," Natsuo said, biting back a bashful smile.

Luci crossed her arms. "'Nice?'"

"Much as I'm dying to see where that's headed," Bakugou drawled. "Emphasis on _dying_ —"

"Dude!" Kirishima whispered.

"—what the hell are we doing here?"

"I like you," Luci said without hesitation, giggling as the blond frowned. "I still feel bad about taking so long, but I have just the thing to make it up to you! It's a project I've been working on for the better part of the year."

Despite his resting bitch face, as Kaminari bravely called it once or twice before, Bakugou muttered a rather convincing, "Whatever."

"We're actually standing right above it!"

From the way Natsuo's chest puffed with pride, I had a feeling he already knew what she was talking about. I didn't believe for a second I had the same brain as an esteemed scientist, but I thought of a few things it could have been, and even fewer that made sense.

"Train?" I guessed.

"Not quite," Luci said, grinning at me. "It's an underground transportation system, for sure, but I don't think the freights on current tracks run on Mag-Lev technology."

"'Mag-Lev?'" Todoroki and Kirishima questioned.

Luci and I also spoke at the same time, her tone seeping with excitement, mine reflecting utter awe. "Magnetic levitation."

"There are a handful of Mag-Lev trains under development all over the world, like the L0 Series in Tokyo and the Hyperloop in California, but none of them have access to the level of technology we have on I-Island," Luci said, all but bouncing on the heels of her feet. "We're down to the final stages of testing, one of which is scheduled later this evening. As soon as that's approved, we'll have the clearance to invite actual passengers!"

"L0 has been in development for almost a decade and it's nowhere near operational," I drifted off, finding it difficult not to gape. "The fact that you're so close to getting cleared is completely unprecedented."

Luci turned on her heel and beckoned us to follow after her, guiding our group towards the opposite direction of the building she and Natsuo exited from.

"Well, that's all thanks to—let's start with static levitation. It's essentially defined by the stable suspension of an object against gravity, but that doesn't equate anti-gravity, nor is that what we're trying to achieve. Do any of you know Earnshaw's theorem?"

Todoroki and Kirishima looked at me, and I stared back at them with an arched brow. "What?"

"You're usually pretty knowledgeable about this kind of stuff," Kirishima said. "And, uh, by that I mean you know pretty much everything."

"Never be the smartest person in the room," I quoted, bringing my hands up in mock surrender.

Luci laughed loudly, twirling in place as she glanced at us. "Earnshaw's theorem is simple if you understand some basic vector calculus!"

"Idiots," Bakugou muttered, rolling his eyes for the umpteenth time when Todoroki and Kirishima redirected their attention to him. "The theory cancels out the possibility of magnetic levitation in multiple situations 'cause at a point of equilibrium, force is zero."

"Right," Luci nodded. "Any object sitting on a surface technically 'levitates' a microscopic distance above it, but that's due to electromagnetic intermolecular forces, not actual levitation. Foucault's currents and servomechanisms, among other things, provide the stability we'd need to power something like a Mag-Lev train. Long story short, I skipped the wheels and created a Mag-Lev disc that keeps her relatively steady."

Natsuo sighed, leaning a little heavily on the swooning. "I love when you defy the laws of physics."

"Defy is a strong word, babe," Luci said, looping their arms together. "It's more like, I don't know, achieving a nice compromise."

"What exactly makes a Mag-Lev train different from a regular train?" Kirishima asked, blinking rapidly in his effort to keep up. "And what makes your Mag-Lev train different from other Mag-Lev trains?"

"Think of it like this: there's no direct train from Los Angeles to San Francisco, but Los Angeles to the next closest city averages an eleven hour travel time. Most Mag-Lev trains aspire to cut that travel time down to an hour or even half an hour, but realistically, it'd take decades for them to develop the technology that might achieve that. Ours already uses that technology. The test for tonight will probably attempt a trip of that length in about twenty minutes tops."

After a couple of blocks, Luci stopped in front of an inconspicuously white wall hidden behind a slew of taller edifices. Her mere presence seemed to trigger some sort of scanning device, and in a matter of seconds, the partition split apart to reveal a path straight into pitch darkness.

"Luciana Marchesi Schiavone," Luci said.

The sound of her voice and what I assumed was her full name lifted the dark veil in an instant. My heart thumped in my chest at the slight breeze drifting from the depths of the cavern. It might have sounded a bit silly, but I felt like I stepped into a scene from one of the many adventure movies I watched back when I was younger.

"I feel like a treasure hunter," Kirishima whispered in wonderment.

Todoroki tilted his head, looking around despite not having much to see. "Even at a place like I-Island, a project of this scale would've needed more than a few months to build a proper enclosure."

"I should clarify that I've been working offsite for about a year," Luci said, taking a step into the void. "But I've been involved in the project as a whole for about five years now, and it's been in development even longer than that."

"Why a train?" Bakugou asked.

Luci smiled at him, but for some reason it looked less cheerful than the others she gave us in the short time since our introduction. Her expression indicated that the blond had nothing to do with the shift in atmosphere, which was, admittedly, an uncommon feat on his part. In the back of my mind, I made a note to compliment him on his amiable attempts to socialize, that is, if he managed to maintain his temper.

"Not everyone is gifted with a Quirk," Luci said, her smile retracting into itself. "We can't always depend on Heroes. Things happen, and sometimes, even the best of them don't make it in time to save the day."

I noticed Bakugou fall silent, undoubtedly thinking of a certain starry-eyed boy. Natsuo seemed to sober significantly for other reasons, perhaps the despondent look on Luci's face or the frown I belatedly realized had inched its way across mine. Heroes didn't always show. I had known that, experienced what it meant firsthand, but hearing someone else say those words unnerved me somehow.

"It may not look like it at first glance, but this technology will help so many people," Luci murmured. "Making photovoltaic cells usually requires toxic metals like lead and cadmium and produces greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, but the Mag-Lev discs run on solar power generators recycling energy at a rate that slows down those effects to almost nonexistent levels in the long term.

"The Earth will benefit from that science as much as the people on it. Everyday citizens can commute to work or school quickly and tirelessly, inevitably putting less cars out on the streets. Quirkless first responders can provide aid and rescue with the same speed and efficiency as Pro Heroes…

"I feel like the past five years flew by even faster than this train will," at that, Luci paused, breaking momentum with another airy laugh. "I'll miss working on her, but I can't wait to see how she changes the world."

It was glaringly obvious that Luci was Quirkless, or at the very least, experienced something that led her down the path of a scientist instead of a Pro Hero. Maybe I was mistaken, making assumptions and accepting them as truth only because I had yet to prove otherwise. Maybe she just wanted to help people out of the kindness of her heart. Maybe I would never know the simple answer. Maybe a simple answer never existed to begin with.

The single most indubitable fact I gathered from this internal investigation had more to do with the hows than the whys. Did it really matter _why_ Luci worked so hard to achieve her goals if she failed miserably or if she succeeded in accomplishing them? Most of the time it was that very why that distinguished a Hero from a Villain, but that need not apply in this case. Luci's resolve felt so absolute that it narrowed the questions down to one: how will she change the world for the better?

"I've talked your ears off, haven't I?" Luci asked, bringing her palms to her cheeks. "I'm sorry, I know I ramble. I didn't even ask for your names! Natsu mentioned them on our way down from the lab, but still…"

"Kirishima," the redhead said, blinking owlishly as his voice tapered off. "It's first names, uh, first in America, right? I'm Ejirō Kirishima, that's Reiko Higuchi," I waved. "And this is Katsuki Bakugou!"

I swallowed the snickers in my throat when Bakugou grunted in response, aware that he did as much purely out of obligation.

"Eji, Tsuki, Rei," Luci recited, lighting up. "Was I close?"

"Yeah!"

"Hell no!"

"You're welcome to call me that," I said, hiding a grin with the back of my hand. "Tsuki might take a bit of convincing, but it has a nice ring to it, huh?"

The blond glowered at me, fingers twitching in an attempt to pacify a transparent impulse to lunge. "I will fucking—"

"And I'm guessing you already know Todoroki," Kirishima said, laughing as he swung an arm around his fellow redhead. "Nice to officially meet you, Luci!"

"Natsu hasn't told me much about you, but I watched the Sports Festival, and I think you all did brilliantly! Your Quirks are beautiful," Luci spoke softer this time. "I almost wish I had one of my own, but…"

Natsuo lowered his head. "Luci…"

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Luci dismissed. "I'm just saying it might've been kind of cool is all."

"What you're doing here is even cooler!" Kirishima protested, wildly gesturing at the darkness around him. "I know I can't see anything right now, but you know what I mean!"

"My brother speaks of you highly," Todoroki said. "I've never known him to be a liar. Just honest and passionate. That's what he feels about you."

If I dropped a strand of my hair, I know everyone would have heard it. I couldn't be bothered to look at the others' reaction when Todoroki captured my undivided attention in such a startling way, but the silence in that tunnel told me theirs was probably similar to my own. How did Todoroki, of all people, make a simple statement sound so…

"Romantic," Kirishima stuttered. "Todoroki?"

The boy in question only shrugged. "I didn't mean for it to sound like anything more than the truth."

"Turned into a damn cheese fest," Bakugou grumbled, kicking at nothing in particular.

"Thank you for saying that," Luci said, smiling at Todoroki. "I've caused a bit of commotion, eh? We're almost there, I promise."

I-Island was familiar in a sense, but it contained mysteries and mysterious people. I considered the scientists and researchers here Heroes in their own right, and just as Luci said, so many more reaped the rewards of what that entailed than some Heroes themselves. All Might had earned the title of the Symbol of Peace for all that he achieved in recent decades, but the majority of Heroes saved the _day_. People like Luci—no, people in general, these everyday civilians—had the power to save tomorrow.

I admired them, respected them for it. I appreciated Luci most of all, because we had known her for no more than a few minutes, and she already proved to be one of the most inspiring people I've ever met. Natsuo still looked at her like he understood why she said these things, and more importantly, why she does what she does. I figured that so long as at least one person knew and cared enough to—to look like that, it didn't matter if I thought of her as a Hero or not.

I looked at Luci and saw a Hero in her own right. Natsuo looked at her and saw Luci. It was important that she had both in her life to ground her each time she soared a little too close to the sun. As we stepped into the light, revealing the grand machine capable of such wondrous change, I couldn't help but let out a breath.

Luci could save the future.

I didn't think I, alone, could do as much in such little time, but Kirishima and Todoroki stood on either side of me, and Bakugou dragged his feet behind us. Even if Heroes didn't show, I could always count on them.

Together…

We could protect it.

* * *

"I didn't expect someone like you to get a tattoo."

Eir shut the book in her hands and turned to find Dabi watching her with careful, albeit curious eyes. It was deep into the evening and the sound of crickets chirping outside the window was all that kept the silence from overstepping its boundaries. The two of them sat on opposite ends of the bar idly sipping on some shochu or maybe something stronger.

"It is not a tattoo," she said.

He quirked a brow. "What is it then?"

Eir parted her lips to respond, but then paused. The glass in front of her instead found its way to her mouth as she tipped back her head, quaffing its contents until all that remained was a stubborn drop clinging to the rim. As intended, the burning sensation in her throat and the pit of her stomach felt familiar enough to coax out the words she seldom said aloud.

"Some call it a birthmark," Eir said, carefully tucking the journal into her coat's breast pocket. "Or a birthright. I suppose it depends on who you ask."

"Cryptic as ever."

"I may consider delving into the details if you allow me to ask a question in return."

"Nice of you to offer despite the fact that you've made it pretty clear you're the boss around here."

Eir glanced at him, not quite sharing his curiosity, but interested nonetheless. "What, pray tell, did you expect of 'someone like me'?"

"Damned if I do, damned if I don't," Dabi muttered, languidly swirling the liquid in his own glass. "You just seem a little too pure to get tangled up with something like the League of Villains."

The League of Villains, a criminal syndicate steadily rising in the ranks of the underworld. It gained hundreds, if not thousands of followers over the past few months alone thanks to relatively successful attacks against some of the top Heroes in the country. Maybe someone like herself had no business attending to such nefarious affairs, but at the end of the day, they offered her what she could not refuse.

"How much do you know about the world as it was?" Eir asked, resting a cheek on her palm.

"'As it was?'"

"Before the existence of Quirks," she clarified. "Lands burst asunder as a result of countless wars while creatures of majesty roamed the earth. It was chaos for so many years, but the bouts peace that settled in after every battle made the fighting worth it."

"You seem to know a lot about that."

"Perhaps, but I digress. I only ask because of our current predicament."

"'Predicament?'" Dabi huffed, a sound that could have passed as a derisive chuckle or an amused scoff. "Stop making me repeat everything you say."

"My apologies. It is a predicament for me, but I should refrain from imposing on you my feelings about the matter."

"If you're talking about the merger—arrangement, partnership, whatever it's called—I couldn't care less."

Eir could discern a lie as soon as someone uttered it. Dabi did not lie. Despite their conversation starting casually enough, the subject matter waned quickly and dangerously close to personal, and her sudden willingness to divulge in said matters indeed had to do with the shot of liquid courage she just injected into her system.

"Do you not share your ideals with the institution to whom you've pledged allegiance?" Eir asked, taking it upon herself to carry on.

"What's with the tone of surprise?" Dabi retorted. "By the way you're talking about it, I guess I wasn't entirely wrong about you."

"Do not misunderstand. I am far from 'pure.' The League gives me the resources I need to further my goals, and I offer my cursed powers in exchange. It is not below me to admit that my hands are stained blood, same as yours."

"You think it's a curse?"

"You think it is not? Those burns on your body must have come from somewhere, and I doubt any opponent has managed to come close enough to inflict such serious damage."

Dabi narrowed his eyes, a slight reaction that she might have missed had she not been staring right into them. "You're implying something."

"No, I am stating a fact. Humans hold Quirks in such high regard, and by extension, they revere people with impressive powers in ways that rival devotion to gods. The line is drawn between Heroes and Villains, but can a distinction between the two truly exist when they share the source of said powers? Nothing more than genes, an example of Mendelian inheritance. It is strictly science."

"I'm not a Hero."

"I never said you were."

"You just said there's no distinction between Heroes and Villains."

"You are correct," Eir said, lips curling into a frown. "You _do_ keep repeating everything I say. Parts you understand, at least, but this clearly does not fall under such umbrella."

Dabi snickered, half-lidded eyes drooping even more. "For someone so uptight, you sure get fired up after a single drink."

"There is no such thing as good and evil, only choices, mistakes," Eir said, sliding her empty glass towards the bartender. "Heroes are not heroes because they are perfect or innately good. Heroes are heroes because someone considers them as such, therefore, it is not the Truth or even a truth, but an opinion—another choice, and in some cases, another mistake. Oh, and that, I assure you, was not my only drink."

"You've piqued my interest," Dabi said. "I'll bite—if you have such a problem with people possessing Quirks, why are you here, helping a league of Villains and then some?"

"It is not the people I have a problem with, but the notion of Quirks itself," Eir rectified, taking a second to consume her umpteenth shot. "Your new comrades advocate for the free usage of Quirks. Liberation, they call it. The League strives to abolish Hero society as a whole and create a monopoly established on oppression. In both cases, only the strong will benefit, and the weak shall be forced into deeper suffering."

"Hasn't it always been that way? The strong continue to be strong and prey on the weak as they get weaker," Dabi bit back a wry smirk, but it surfaced through his mask of indifference. Expressions could lie, too, and Eir saw through his in an instant. "I get it. I've seen it."

"And lived it," she said.

Not accusingly. Not snidely. Not a drop of condescension in her statement. It was just that—a statement, a fact—and because it was those things, it meant her words rang true. He understood because he saw it, and he saw it because he lived it, but he refused to give her the satisfaction of knowing she was right.

"What is it you want to accomplish?" Dabi asked, not yet sneering, but almost. "A single person can't revolutionize the way the whole world works. Even I know that."

"The world as it was did not paint itself so black and white as people in this generation do with Heroes and Villains, the Quirks and the Quirkless. Humans are not divine beings, and no individual is inherently superior to another. The existence of Quirks nullifies those notions, pitting people against each other in unnatural ways. I have made it my duty to disprove such delusions and cease the corruption that has kept us chained for so long."

"That's a pretty big duty."

"It is my burden to bear. The Hero Killer," at the moniker, Dabi straightened. "Aims to purge the world of false Heroes, ones who use their strength strictly out of selfishness. I agree that false Heroes must be eradicated, but our paths diverge in my belief that all Heroes are false Heroes, false deities."

"You know, it's impressive," Dabi started, perfectly blasé. "How I learned so much about you aside from what I explicitly asked. Couldn't even humor me?"

"Forgive me. I have no qualms about sharing my goal," Eir said, pointedly ignoring his sarcasm. "As I said, I lack the resources needed to set my plans into motion, but our current alliance easily negates that. I provide my services as your tactician, and by your recent victories—"

"I wouldn't exactly call them victories."

"Progress, then."

"In what way?"

"I mean victories you might have considered as such had your peers successfully carried out your end of the mission. Alas, it seems your so-called leader suffers from his own delusions of grandeur. I've provided you ample opportunity to strike, and the weapon with which you lay the hammer down. One would think you would know to use it."

"Does it not concern you that we're pulling out all the stops for a bunch of kids?"

"Those children just happen to have a knack for appearing at the wrong place, at the wrong time. This is bigger than them," she paused. "Literally."

Dabi raised a brow again. "Was that a joke?"

"Humans must learn to depend on themselves," Eir said, standing and smoothing her hands over her skirt. "I mean that in all seriousness. Relying too much on Quirks makes room for easily avoidable liabilities that can cause catastrophic consequences. I cannot sit idly by as it occurs."

Before he could respond to her spiel, Eir dipped her head toward the bartender in thanks. Dabi watched her movements, turquoise eyes straying not even for a second, but she paid him no mind.

"I deem you my witness," Eir said, looking at him at last. "I will mourn for every life lost on our road to reform, but I will not hesitate to strike down whoever stands in my way. I will remain vigilant and unyielding, and I will cleanse this world of Quirks once and for all. Mark my words, Todoroki Touya."

His eyes widened a fraction at the name she called him, but such a minuscule reaction was the most emotion outside of sadistic glee or annoyance that she had ever seen him express. A small victory, but a victory nonetheless, and one she would accept wholeheartedly as soon as he attempted to piece together his veneer of composure.

"I don't care if you're my boss," Dabi spat. "Keep that name out of your mouth."

Eir smiled a secret sort of smile, not at all offended by his words. If anything, she wagered that he was more affected by what she said to him. More proof that, no, she was not tangled in their web, for she was the one pulling the strings. The lower ranked members of the League served as decent pawns. Dabi made an obedient knight, following orders despite his own opinions and beliefs.

Shigaraki Nomura was a less than reliable King, but the unexpected entrance of two bishops changed the game, almost refreshingly so. New pieces meant new moves, and the combinations were multitudinous. Exhausting as it was maintaining a working relationship with some of the vilest humans she had the displeasure of meeting, she had to admit she reveled in the satisfaction of her plays turning out successful.

The incident at the Unforeseen Simulation Joint was meant to gauge their opponent's abilities, requiring only the League's involvement. The Children's Day operation included the Yakuza's participation in order to expand their reach among civilians on the streets. I-Expo was precisely the opportunity she needed to bring all three of them together.

 _Douse them while you can…_

In truth, she trusted only one man among them, but that had largely to do with his ideals aligning closest to her own. He believed that Quirks plagued both those with and without them and hoped to rid the world of their existence altogether. Eir promised herself and those she failed to save that she would help him accomplish that dream. It made the most sense and resulted in the least amount of casualties. The ones they cannot save, she will honor and remember.

The streetlights illuminated the area at the base of her neck immediately after she stepped out of the bar, revealing the black wings Dabi assumed had been inked onto her skin. Her fingers traced the outline of her story through the thin material of her sweater, and as she made her way home, Eir steeled her resolve. As did all books, it had a first chapter and a last page. In order to start a new one, she must first see things through to the very end.

* * *

 **postscript**

thank u for ur patience friends i have too much to say pls catch me on jngsjngs dot tumblr dot com for now all i have to say is that the next few chapters will be straight up PLOT i love that for us (also every chapter is officially revised! if u haven't reread hsc in the past month or so i highly recommend doing so if u ever find the time to spare)


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